


Guiltless

by Engineerd



Category: Dragon Ball
Genre: Dragon Ball Super - Freeform, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Magic, Majin Vegeta, Minor Bulma Briefs/Vegeta, Minor Chi-Chi/Son Goku
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-20
Updated: 2020-08-14
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:13:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 19,640
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24815131
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Engineerd/pseuds/Engineerd
Summary: While fighting a villainous witch with the ability to suppress ki, Vegeta figures out a way to defeat her using magic. Unfortunately, some transformations hurt more than they help.OR“Don’t antagonize him,” Piccolo ordered. “He can’t feel guilt right now, so he will act on all his impulses. It’s up to you to control yourself around him.”“I was just standing up for myself,” Goku mumbled sullenly. "It's not my fault he got himself stuck Majin."
Relationships: Son Goku/Vegeta (Dragon Ball)
Comments: 155
Kudos: 242
Collections: Baby Buu’s Favs, My Dragonball Favs





	1. Part 1: Goku

“I’m not running like some kind of  _ coward,”  _ Vegeta spat. 

“Don’t be a fool,” Piccolo argued. “We’ve got nothing.” 

_ “You  _ have nothing,” Vegeta started. “But I’m a Saiyan warrior-”

Goku grit his teeth as he squinted out through the fog, still not able to sense a damn thing out there. He’d probably heard Vegeta’s pride speech a hundred times by now, with all the battles they’d fought together. He’d never really agreed with the concept - Goku would sacrifice his own pride gladly, if necessary - but hey, whatever kept Vegeta up and swinging. Goku had his love of fighting and the ki power to back it up, and those were the things he could never lose. 

Well. Until today. 

“-his  _ pride,”  _ Vegeta finished behind him. “So feel free to continue hiding in this hole like rabbits. I’m going to go out there and fight the bastard.” 

“I’m going too,” Goku announced, turning around from his vigil at the front of their cave to look at his companions. Vegeta smirked in triumph as Piccolo grimaced. 

“You can’t use your ki,” Piccolo said. “No Super Saiyan, no energy blasts, no flying, no  _ nothing.  _ You’ll die.” 

“Ah, come on, Piccolo,” Goku cajoled. “I’ve got my fists.” He glanced over at Vegeta, and decided it was worth indulging his ego one last time, in case this was the end. “And my pride.” 

“Ha!” Vegeta said. “We may make a proper Saiyan out of you yet, Kakarot.” 

Piccolo sighed loudly and rubbed his temples. “I hate magic,” he muttered. “Have you guys heard from Gohan? His mystic transformation was magically induced, he might be able to pull some power on these guys.” 

“Eh,” Goku said. “I think if he could fight, he would be here by now. That witch Abraca must have done something to distract him.” 

“Magic power is a bullshit cop out, anyway,” Vegeta said. “I’m leaving.” He brushed past the both of them to exit their cave, knocking his shoulder into Goku’s arm roughly on his way out. 

“Bye Piccolo!” Goku echoed. “Dragon balls should still be working fine, once it’s safe to come out. Wish us back when you’re done!” 

“Unbelievable,” he heard Piccolo scoff as he ran out of the cave and hurried to meet Vegeta. Vegeta, despite his big words, was taking the tiniest steps possible. They couldn’t see more than 10 feet in front of their faces with all the magical fog swirling around, and there was no clue as to where their enemies were. 

“Which way should we go?” Goku asked, his arms falling into a defensive stance as he inched forward on Vegeta’s right. 

Vegeta was flexing his inward hand out in front of him, opening and closing his fingers like he could message a ki-ball into existing. “Damn. Can’t even make a false moon in this thing.”

“Whoa,” Goku said. “Throwback. That was magic?” 

“Only magic-adjacent, apparently,” Vegeta huffed.

“I think we should go right.” 

Vegeta, predictably, went left. Goku let out a “hey!” just so Vegeta wouldn’t realize he was onto him, and kept at his side. 

“Will I ever be rid of you, clown?”

“It’s not like you have a lot of other options, here,” Goku pointed out. “Come on. Who would you rather have on your team?” 

“I work best alone,” Vegeta snarled. “You’re going to give away our position, making this much racket-”

“I hope I do, then we’ll get someone to fight,” he said. “And come on, I  _ know  _ you liked working with Trunks from the future, at  _ least _ . You’d team up with him again."

“Trunks has gone back to the future, and is never coming back.”

“He could come back,” Goku argued. “He went back into his timeline where Bulma’s still alive, they’ve got a time machine.” 

“But the gods are onto us now, and he can’t use it,” Vegeta said firmly. “So  _ no,  _ I wouldn’t even team up with Trunks.” 

“Baby Trunks,” he suggested. 

“No. And don’t call him that, he’s eleven.” 

“But he’s the same person!” 

“They’re not interchangeable!” Vegeta snapped, and threw a lazy punch out to his side in the general direction of Goku’s face. 

Goku leaned backwards to dodge the blow, and that was when his feet were swept out from under him.  _ “Ah!”  _

_ “Kakarot!” _

Goku spread his arms to absorb the speed of his fall, back landing on the ground hard. He kicked outward immediately, using the momentum to launch himself back to his feet. His kick connected with something that exploded into green light on contact - he pivoted, retreating until he felt his back hit Vegeta’s. 

__ “It’s the goddamn... _ holograms,  _ again,” Vegeta panted, dodging as he jerked them both to the right to dodge a burst of energy that exploded at their feet. 

It took much more effort than usual to stay together. Goku still couldn’t sense Vegeta’s ki - he couldn’t sense anything - all their coordination had to be done through aborted gestures and pokes of elbows. “I’ve got 6 greens and a yellow,” he called out over his shoulder. “The greens explode on contact.” 

“The yellow is the leader!” Vegeta shouted. “And the blue ones are making more -  _ goddamnit -” _

Goku punched a green one, and was forced to leap away to avoid its blast. Another one surged forward, aiming for his gut, and he was only able to take care of it by taking another lunge away from Vegeta. “They’re trying to separate us!”

“Obviously!” Vegeta screamed, sounding pained. Goku glanced away for a precious second - he could still make out Vegeta’s silhouette, but the fog would make him impossible to find if they separated any further. Another energy blast forced Goku to dodge again, but he managed to cartwheel sideways and hook his feet around a blue hologram’s neck, slamming it onto the ground where it fizzled and died. 

Vegeta shouted again. Wordless, this time. A cry of pain, it had to be - it was too short to be anything else.  _ “Vegeta!”  _

“RAAAAAGHHHH!” Vegeta screamed - frustration, this time. “I’m fine!” 

Goku had seen Vegeta pushed to the verge of collapse and still insist he was fine almost as many times as Goku had heard the pride speech. He slapped one green hologram into another and took the opportunity to dive closer. “You sure?” 

“Of course! The red bastard just got a lucky hit!” 

“What red-” Goku started, and then there was a blinding pain at the back of the base of his neck. 

And then he fell. 

* * *

A field of white. 

_ “Kakarot!”  _

Screaming far away, like it had to echo across caverns and caverns to reach him. 

He couldn’t feel his toes. 

_ “AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”  _

He couldn’t feel his tongue. 

_ “Trying hiding behind your magic now, you WITCH!”  _

He couldn’t feel anything. 

He blacked out. 

* * *

Goku woke with a start, sensation flooding down his limbs in a wave of pins and needles that died down as quickly as it came. There was a hand on his cheek, and a hand on the bottom of his jaw. “Come on, Dad, keep chewing.” 

He swallowed down the familiar taste of a sensu bean and opened his eyes. “Gohan?” 

Gohan smiled and let go of his face, letting Goku swing up into a sitting position. “Phew. Thought we’d have to use a Dragon Ball wish on you for a second.” 

“I’m fine,” Goku said, reaching an arm back behind him to touch the back of his neck, the last place he remembered getting hit. The fabric of his gi back there was sticking to his skin, and when he pulled his fingers back around they had an annoying residue of blood. “Wow, that does look bad.” He looked around at the empty field they were sitting in - it was a clear, sunny day again, and aside from a few scorch marks there was no evidence that a battle had taken place here. “What happened?” 

“Good news and bad news,” Gohan said, jumping up to his feet. Goku followed suit, reveling in the fact that his ki seemed to be back and working as good as new. He stretched as Gohan started rambling. “The good news is that we were able to beat Abraca’s ki-blocking spell and all her minions, and that she won’t be bothering us again.” 

“Aw, I missed out on the fun,” Goku pouted. “Were you able to do it Mystic?” 

Gohan made a face. “It wasn’t me, actually. That’s kind of the bad news.” 

Goku took another look around the battlefield. “Where are Piccolo and Vegeta?” he asked suddenly. 

“Piccolo’s guarding Vegeta,” Gohan said. “Well. He’s probably keeping tabs, at least.” 

Goku stopped fidgeting and stared Gohan directly in the eyes. “What do you mean, guarding? What happened to him?” 

“So the good news is that Vegeta was able to pull out some magic to beat Abraca,” Gohan said, and then the corner of his mouth dipped. “The bad news is that Vegeta’s Majin again, and we don’t know how to turn him back.” 


	2. Chapter 2

Goku’s heart leapt up into his throat. “Vegeta’s  _ Majin?!”  _ he echoed, raising two fingers to his forehead and immediately searching out for Vegeta’s ki. 

“I mean, the big M on his forehead is kind of a dead giveaway,” Gohan said. “Be careful, Dad.” 

He sensed a powerful ki out by capsule corp, but it took him a second to reconcile its dark energy with Vegeta’s usual. The last time Vegeta had gone majin, they’d had their most brutal battle in years. Vegeta had been trying to kill him - well, kill him again - 

_ I can always go Super Saiyan 3,  _ he thought, and then cringed. Super Saiyan Blue now, right. 

Vegeta could also go Blue. And he had the Majin boost now. 

“Dad?” Gohan asked. 

“Got it!” he announced, like he had just located Vegeta’s ki. “See you around, son! Thanks for the pick-me up!” 

“Anytime,” Gohan said, and then Goku instant transmissioned to Capsule Corp. 

* * *

He appeared in the dining room. Vegeta was sitting at the table, currently eating a large pot of spaghetti. Piccolo was leaning against a far wall, arms crossed in front of him and glowering. 

“Hey guys!” Goku said, waving. 

Vegeta eyed him out of the corner of one of his eyes, but otherwise didn’t say anything in lieu of continuing to shovel pasta into his mouth. He was still Super Saiyan, but he didn’t seem to be powering up any more than that. 

“Hey,” Piccolo grunted in return. “You look less dead.” 

“Thanks! Gohan found me,” Goku said, rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet. Despite the sensu bean he’d just had, the spaghetti smelled  _ really  _ good, so he inched over to the spot opposite Vegeta and started leaning over the table. “Hey, any chance there’s more of that-”

“Touch my food and die,” Vegeta snarled. 

“Aww, you don’t have to be like that.” 

Vegeta raised a platinum-blond eyebrow. “I’m serious.” 

“Let him eat, Goku,” Piccolo said, pushing himself off the wall. “Didn’t you just have a sensu bean? Aren’t those supposed to be able to fill you up for days?” 

“I could always go for more,” Goku said. 

Piccolo humphed and re-crossed his arms. “Let’s go say hi to Bulma.” 

Goku threw a glance back at Vegeta warily. “So no food?” 

“Hey,  _ dumbass,”  _ Vegeta said, slamming a fist on the table. “Take the hint and the Namek and go talk about me behind my back like a regular person. Leave me here in peace. Preferably forever.” 

“Hey,” Goku objected. “I’m not the one who’s stuck with the world’s stupidest face tattoo-”

Vegeta shot an energy blast at him suddenly, which Goku deflected into the ceiling. Through the ceiling. He flinched as he accidentally added a hole through the roof.

“Hey!” Vegeta shouted. 

“You started-” Goku said, but was cut off by Piccolo grabbing Goku by the collar and dragging him out of the dining room. The fabric wasn’t cutting into his airway at all, now that he had ki again to strengthen his form, but it still caught him by surprise. 

“Don’t antagonize him,” Piccolo ordered. “He can’t feel guilt right now, so he will act on all his impulses. It’s up to you to control yourself around him.” 

“I was just standing up for myself,” Goku mumbled sullenly 

“And we actually should check in with Bulma,” Piccolo continued, relaxing his grip marginally as he led them through Capsule Corp’s extensive halls. “She’s working in one of her labs.” 

“Does she have any idea on how to get Vegeta to turn back to normal?” Goku asked. 

Piccolo raised an eye-ridge. “Let’s just go check in.” 

Slightly foreboding, but Goku just shrugged until Piccolo let go of him, and followed him to the northern block of the facility. They found Bulma in a smaller room with chaotic piles of gadgets in each corner. She sat at the lone clean table in the center, leaning over a circuit board with a soldering iron in hand. 

“Yo, Bulma!” Goku greeted, raising a hand in a jaunty wave. “Whatcha working on?” 

Bulma glanced up, a strand of hair falling into her face. “Nothing important,” she said. “Spare dragon radar component. A little old-fashioned, but it’s nice to get back to my roots sometimes, you know?” 

He smirked. “Do I ever. It’s been almost a year since you’ve hit me with a car, want to try that again too? For old time's sake?” 

“You jumped in front of me last time, shut up.” 

Piccolo made a noise of disapproval in the back of his throat and crossed his arms. “So we’re skipping straight to the Dragon Balls, then?” 

Bulma put her project down and glared at Piccolo. “If you have any better ideas, I’m all ears,” she said. “The Dragon Balls will still be inactive for months.” 

“Are you guys talking about Vegeta?” Goku asked. “I’m sure we can get him to un-Majin… de-Majinfy...whatever, before that. Have we just asked him?”

“Oh, sure, let’s just  _ ask  _ the power-obsessed man who murdered hundreds of people last time he existed to give up a little of his extra strength,” Bulma said. “What could  _ possibly  _ go wrong?” 

“Gohan did ask, back when we got our power back and were able to make it to the scene of the battle,” Piccolo added. “Well, he tried. Vegeta interrupted him, and long story short he does not seem interested in changing back.” 

“Huh,” Goku said, scratching his chin, and glancing at Bulma out of the corner of his eye. “Have  _ you  _ asked?” 

_ “Me?”  _ Bulma spluttered. 

“Yeah,  _ you _ , he’d do anything for-”

“He killed a quarter of the spectators and the world tournament-”

“What, are you scared?” Goku interrupted, putting his hands on his hips and leaning forward. “Of Vegeta? You?” 

Bulma jumped to her feet and scrunched up her nose, fists clenching at her sides, unknowingly mimicking the same post that her husband sometimes did when taunted just short of a fistfight. “I’m not scared, I’m just making a strategic decision-”

“Oh, come on, Bulma, you’ve never been afraid of trying to seduce our problems away-”

“Eugh!” she scoffed, and Goku knew he had her. When they were kids, Bulma would let him know first thing when she was scared, no problem - all the faster to sic him on their enemies. But she’d been married to Vegeta too long to admit fear now. “Fine! I’ll do it.” 

“Just tell him that you think an empty forehead is sexy - ow, ow!” he said, raising a hand to stop Bulma from whacking him in the face a third time. “It was just a suggestion!” 

“Gross, Goku,” Bulma said. “Leave your stupid suggestions to yourself. I’m leaving.” 

“Good luck!” 

“Be careful,” Piccolo added. Bulma stuck her tongue out at Goku and nodded at Piccolo on her way out, and Piccolo turned to him once she’d left the room. “You better hope that Bulma doesn’t get hurt.” 

“Vegeta would never hurt her,” Goku said. “Come on, Piccolo. I don’t think there’s a force in any of the universe that could make Vegeta do  _ that.  _ He’s still Vegeta.” 

“I suppose you’re right,” Piccolo said, pursing his lips. “Still, I’d feel a lot better if we had a common enemy.” His eyes flicked over towards the door Bulma had exited from, and he frowned harder.

Goku tilted his head to the side, weighing his words. “You were there when he...died, last time, right?” 

“Killing Vegeta is the last resort,” Piccolo mumbled, almost absentmindedly. 

“Whoa, I didn’t mean it like that!” he protested. “No one’s killing anyone!”

Piccolo glanced over. “Of course not,” he amended. “I meant...I was there when he died, Goku. Majin Vegeta sacrificed himself to try and take out Buu. He took his time to say his goodbyes and make sure we were all out of the way. There is good in him.” 

Goku crossed his arms, forcing himself not to start hovering off the ground. “But?” he prompted, knowing Piccolo didn’t half-ass his analyses. An objective analysis was worth hearing some hard truths. 

Piccolo paused, like he was considering if Goku could handle it. “But I wouldn’t say he’s a good person, Goku. He’s Vegeta at his base instincts, and Vegeta’s base instincts aren’t pleasant. You know that better than anyone.” 

“I still think he’ll do it for Bulma,” Goku said. “Besides, Bulma can handle herself around him. I’m not worried.” 

“You’re never worried,” Piccolo grumbled. “We need to be keeping tabs on Vegeta for as long as he’s like this. Can you take over for me? I want to check on Dende.” 

Goku shrugged. “Sure. Can’t be too much longer, I can spare a few minutes.” 

“Ha,” Piccolo scoffed. “Stay safe.” 

“Will do!” Goku replied, giving a small salute that Piccolo ignored as he swirled his cape dramatically and stalked out of the lab. Now all alone, Goku looked around and immediately decided he did not want to stay in here alone with all the delicate equipment. He put his fingers to his forehead and felt around with his ki-sense for others at the compound. Trunks was all the way across the continent - at his house, with Goten, actually - oo, but Bulla was in the other building with Bulma’s mother. Checking in with the baby sure beat standing around-

Vegeta’s power level spiked and Vegeta’s ki signature launched itself out of Capsule Corp at supersonic speed. Goku dropped his hand and sprinted for the door instead, running through the halls until he found what remained of the dining room they’d left Vegeta. There was now a giant hole in the wall, and Bulma was nowhere to be- 

Wait. There. “Bulma!” Goku cried, helping Bulma up from where she’d been blown backwards against the far side. “Are you okay? What happened?!” 

Bulma got to her feet shakily. “I can’t...I can’t do it,” she said. “I can’t get him to change him back.” 

“Damn it,” Goku swore. “I’ll go talk to him. He usually does anything if I say it’s for you.”

“Obviously not anymore,” Bulma said, still looking pale. “He’ll do a hell of a lot for your sake too, Goku, so it looks like it's your turn.” 

“Think I can punch it out of him?” 

“GOKU!” Bulma shrieked. “You guys are both gods now, if you blow up the earth while trying to knock his block off so help me-”

“Geez, Bulma, my ears,” Goku whined, taking a step backwards and covering his ears with his palms. “No need to get so squeaky, I’ll talk to him first, fine.” 

“And then find a nice alternate dimension or something,” she ordered. 

Goku grinned. “So you  _ do  _ think I can punch it out of him.” 

She scoffed and rolled her eyes. “How else do you two solve your problems? Anyway, are you going after him or not?”

“Going, going,” Goku said, raising his fingers to his forehead and focusing again. Vegeta had stopped somewhere a quarter-way around the world, in a place nearly devoid of other life-ki. “See you soon, hopefully. Sorry about the ceiling.” 

Bulma looked up. “What about the ceiling?” 

“Nothing!” Goku said, and transmissioned away before she could respond. 

* * *

Majin Vegeta had landed in a quiet green valley that was nearing sunset. Goku appeared at Vegeta’s side, body tense in case he was jumped right away, but Vegeta acted like he didn’t even notice him. 

Vegeta was standing at the deepest part of the valley, head thrown back up to the sky and fists clenched at his sides in a classic Vegeta brooding pose. He was still Super Saiyan. “Hey,” Goku said awkwardly, just to get the conversation rolling. “I felt you blast out of there in a-”

“Shut up,” Vegeta snapped. “Just shut the fuck up. You never stop talking sometimes and it wants to make me rip my goddamn ears off.” 

Goku winced - Majin Vegeta was even meaner than usual. “Ok then,” he said, and crossed his hands behind his head, leaning back into his relaxed pose. He stayed next to Vegeta silently for several minutes. 

“Well?” Vegeta snapped eventually. “Are you just going to give up trying to find out why I left?” 

“You told me to shut up,” Goku pointed out. 

“You don’t usually  _ listen.”  _

“That’s not fair, Vegeta. I listen to everything you say.” 

“Liar,” Vegeta said. “Fine. I  _ can’t  _ change back. Are you happy now?” 

Goku blinked, and brought his hands back down to his sides. “Can’t? What do you mean?” 

Vegeta turned to him. “I mean I don’t know  _ how!”  _ he roared, and shoved Goku’s chest. 

Goku stumbled back two steps under the sudden pressure. “Whoa, hey, easy now. That’s it?” 

“What do you mean,  _ that’s it?”  _ Vegeta seethed. 

“We thought you weren’t changing back because you didn’t want to,” he said. “If you just don’t know how to - well, that’s completely different. We can help you with that!” 

“You idiot!” Vegeta said. “Why the hell would I want to be stuck like this?!” His aura flared a little brighter, and he ascended properly into Super Saiyan 2 before sending a fist flying at Goku’s face. 

Goku powered up equally in an instant, catching the first before it could do any real damage. Majin Vegeta was no joke - not counting his still-shaky grasp of Ultra Instinct, there weren’t any forms he could whip out this time that Vegeta couldn’t match. And now that he had the power boost… “Hey, this is just a spar, right? No trying to kill me?” 

“I’ll do whatever the hell I  _ want!”  _ Vegeta roared, and swung another fist. 

Goku ducked out of the way pretty easily. Despite his words, Vegeta seemed to be taking it pretty easy; he moved with medium speed and power at best, and didn’t go any higher than Super Saiyan 2. 

Goku appreciated the show at first - he’d known,  _ he’d known, Piccolo,  _ that Vegeta was still a good person deep down inside, and wouldn’t really hurt any of them. After a while, though, Goku started to get bored. “That's all you’ve got?” he taunted, and started moving faster, landing a series of sweeping blows on Vegeta. 

Vegeta hissed as he hit the ground hard, and got up with shaky legs. 

“If we’re going to fight, at least make it interesting,” Goku said, and clenched his fists to transform into Super Saiyan God. His own aura heated the air around him, primed for action, but Vegeta just stood in the distance, lightning hissing around his body at Super Saiyan 2. “Come on! You’re always yelling at me not to waste your time!” 

Vegeta let out a word battlecry and charged again, but he didn’t transform up, and it was easy for Goku to avoid every single one of his movements. “Come on, Vegeta!” 

“Shut  _ up!”  _ Vegeta answered. “I’ll beat you, just as I am!”

He charged again, but Goku easily grabbed him by the arm and threw him down into the earth below. A crater formed instantly under Vegeta’s body, and Goku floated down to its edge and watched him struggle to stand. “Hey, what’s the problem? Why aren’t you transforming?” 

Vegeta was too winded to answer, but he shot him a glare. 

There was no universe where Vegeta would hold back anything against Goku, especially if he was losing. “Why aren’t you transforming?” he repeated, a little desperately. “You can, can’t you? Don’t tell me you can’t!” 

Vegeta finally pushed himself up onto his hands and knees. “Fine...then,” he panted, head hanging low. “I won’t tell you.” 

Goku dropped back down to his base form. Can’t transform out of Majin, can’t transform into anything else… “No,” he muttered to himself, refusing to contemplate the possibility of leaving Vegeta so incomplete. “No, no, no, no, no. There’s got to be something I can do about this.” 

“I don’t want your help, Kakarot.” 

He didn’t want to have to need help, Goku translated in his head. “You helped me out against the witch, Vegeta. That’s the whole reason you’re stuck like this. I owe you.” 

Vegeta stared at him, blue eyes piercing. Goku missed his natural black gaze acutely. “You do owe me,” he growled, slowly, like he was just realizing it. 

“Exactly, so I have to help you out,” Goku said. “I have some ideas of people to ask. Want to come with me?” 

Vegeta pushed himself finally to his feet. “Yes.” 

Goku waited for a  _ just to make sure you don’t mess it up, Kakarot,  _ or even a  _ if you insist,  _ but Vegeta just left it there. “Oo-kay then,” Goku answered awkwardly, feeling off-balance in more ways than one. He put his fingers to his forehead and held a hand out for Vegeta to take. “Hang on!” 

Vegeta grabbed his hand, lacing their fingers together securely. Goku’s eyes widened before he snapped them shut and Instant Transmissioned them to Baba’s Palace.

“Humph,” Vegeta grunted. “Where are we?” 

He was still holding Goku’s hand. Goku extracted his gently and tried not to blush. Unsuccessfully. Vegeta was staring at him, way longer than was usually allowed, and it was making his stomach do somersaults. 

Vegeta raised an eyebrow. 

Oh, right, the question. “Fortuneteller Baba lives here,” he said, scratching the back of his head awkwardly. Vegeta’s eyes flickered up the line of Goku’s bicep. “Maybe she can get you back to normal.” 

Vegeta glanced back at his face. “Lead on,” he said, voice deep, and Goku felt his body flush  _ again.  _

It wasn’t the first time. He and Vegeta have had their share of awkward moments in the past - how could they not, fighting in such close quarters so often, the beauty of their spars -but their unspoken rule was that when the other person noticed, the first person had to stop staring.  _ Majin Vegeta was still staring.  _

Goke tried to shake off the feeling of slow combustion deep within his body. It was just Vegeta; they’d get him back to normal soon, and then they could go back to only looking when the other’s back was turned. “Let’s go,” he said, and started in towards Baba’s palace. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Vegeta's the kind of character who just talks with a lot of italics, you know? 
> 
> Thank you to everyone for reading! see y'all next week


	3. Chapter 3

“Hello, Goku,” Baba said, meeting them in the entrance hall. “Here to cheat me out of my Fortuneteller’s fee, again?” 

“Yo!” Goku greeted. “I’ll do the fighter’s challenge again!” 

Baba slumped on her crystal ball. “Not worth it,” she grumbled. “Although maybe your friend...” she looked in Vegeta’s direction hopefully. “Are you able to pay the fee?” 

“Are you able to keep your building from being burned down?” Majin Vegeta threatened, raising a hand and summoning a ball of ki. 

“Vegeta, Vegeta, hey, whoa,” Goku said, grabbing Vegeta’s wrist and wrenching it back down. “No threatening people I’m trying to ask for help, okay?” 

“Hmph,” Vegeta huffed, turning his head to glare at Goku. Goku had been on the receiving end of that glare too many times to count, so he wasn’t scared off at all, until he realized how close he and Vegeta were standing and promptly dropped the wrist and jumped backwards. 

“Oh, it’s you again,” Baba said, entirely uncowed and seeming resigned to the fact that she wouldn’t be making any money today. “Might as well get this over with. What do you boys need?” 

“We need to break a spell cast on Vegeta,” Goku said, gesturing with his thumb to Vegeta’s forehead. “He’s stuck like that.” 

“I see,” she answered. “And who cast it?” 

“Uhhh,” Goku said, scrunching his nose. “That wizard...Babidi? I think that was his name?” 

Baba startled so badly she nearly fell off her ball.  _ “Babidi the Warlock?”  _ she said. “But he’s dead!” 

“It wasn’t Babidi,” Vegeta said. 

Baba flew closer and examined Vegeta’s forehead. “That’s his signature Majin mark, all right,” she said. “I have no idea how he managed to escape hell! I better consult with King Yemma-”

“Don’t ignore me, Fortuneteller, I just told you it wasn’t Babidi,” Vegeta interrupted, scowling. 

“Who was it then?” Goku asked. “Abraca didn’t do this to you after she knocked me out, did she?” 

“I did it,” Vegeta said calmly. 

“WHaaaaaat?” Goku said. “But - but - ”

“Hmmm,” Baba said, tilting her head. “I can see it now, yes. You traded away control over the evil in your heart for some power, didn’t you?” 

Vegeta pursed his lips and crossed his arms. “Can you break the spell or not?” 

“The only person who can break the spell is you, boy,” Baba said, floating slowly out of Vegeta’s reach. “Internal magic is nigh-untouchable by outside influence of another individual.” 

“That can’t be right,” Vegeta said. “I’ve been trying to break the spell for hours.” 

Goku’s heart sank. “And the dragon balls won’t be active for months!” 

Baba shrugged. “Then you must not be putting in enough effort.”

_ “I’ll show you eff-”  _ Vegeta snarled, raising a fist. 

Goku pounced on Vegeta’s raised arm, dragging Vegeta’s whole body backwards. “Is there anything else we can try, Baba?” Goku shouted, powering up to Super Saiyan 2 and digging in his heels as Vegeta kept struggling. “Anything that would help break a spell?” 

“Are you interested in buying a book?” Baba asked, ignoring Vegeta’s struggle to escape Goku’s hold and trample her. 

“Where is it?!” Goku shouted. 

“Third floor, top of the stack just next to the glass turtle-bear-”

Goku secured one arm around Vegeta’s hips and pressed the other against his forehead. He focused on the next-strongest ki he could sense - Piccolo - and Instant Transmissioned them out. 

* * *

Vegeta jerked his head back the moment they appeared, knocking square into Goku’s nose. Goku released Vegeta on instinct, and Vegeta turned and slammed him into the ground, pinning him to the white tile of the Lookout floor. 

“Not making an  _ effort,”  _ Vegeta hissed, stretching to hold Goku’s wrists to the ground over his head. “You should have let me at her, that pompous old-”

“Ow,” Goku interrupted, tugging at his wrists. “Let me up - come on, Vegeta-”

Vegeta leaned in closer to Goku’s face. “Make me.” 

It would have been too easy to hurt Vegeta if he transformed up more than he already was - that’s what Goku told himself, anyway, as he surged upwards with all the power Super Saiyan 2 could give him and managed to unseat Vegeta just enough to flip their positions. Knees on Vegeta’s thighs wasn’t the most stable position, but it was worth it to see the look on Vegeta’s face. “Easy,” Goku taunted. “What are you going to do about it?” 

Vegeta didn’t say anything back, but his pupils dilated - it was stupid easy to tell, with his light blue Super Saiyan eyes - 

“Honestly, you two,” Piccolo’s voice echoed from behind them, and Goku jumped instantly back into a standing position. Piccolo’s cape was somehow waving in a non-existent breeze, emphasizing his disappointed expression. “Trunks and Goten are better behaved.” 

“Hee hee,” Goku said, scratching the back of his head. “Sorry, Piccolo.” 

“You say that now,” Vegeta started, rising slowly to his feet, “but Gotenks is a certifiable demon.” 

“Like you’d know,” Piccolo said. “You were dead when they were first learning to fuse-”

“They fuse just for fun sometimes,” Vegeta snapped. “They could be professional migraine causers.” 

“I think Gotenks is cute,” Goku offered. “He always tries to fight me Super Saiyan 3.” 

“Idiots,” Vegeta scoffed. 

“Someone sounds mad he never learned Super Saiyan 3-”

A vein started pulsing in Vegeta’s forehead. “Name one fight Super Saiyan 3 has actually won you before you got too tired to continue.” 

“I’ll go 3 right now-”

“Goku!” Piccolo barked. “Can’t you leave Vegeta alone long enough to tell me why are you two here?” 

Goku blinked, tearing his eyes away from Vegeta. “Oh, yeah. We just needed somewhere to get away to.” 

_ “I  _ needed nothing,” Vegeta said, crossing his arms. 

Goku looked the other direction and rolled his eyes so Vegeta couldn’t see. “We were just brainstorming how to break the Majin spell. Oh, that reminds me-” 

He brought his fingers to his forehead and Instant Transmissioned back to Baba’s palace, aiming for her 3rd floor. He spotted the book she was talking about pretty easily, grabbed it, and then Transmissioned back. 

“-we’ve got a book full of things to try,” he finished. 

“Give that to me,” Vegeta snapped, snatching it out of Goku’s hand. 

“Careful,” Piccolo warned. 

“It’s my spell, I’ll do what I please,” he said, rifling through the pages, and then turning back to the beginning and actually reading something. 

“What is that?” Piccolo asked. 

“A bunch of generic ways to end a spell,” Vegeta said, not looking up. “Hopefully one of these will have some effect. This was the best Kakarot’s geriatric midget witch could do.” 

Piccolo looked to Goku for translation. “We visited Baba,” Goku supplied. “Vegeta can’t end the spell on his own.” 

Piccolo’s expression cleared. “Oh,” he said, glancing at Vegeta again, his expression a fraction less harsh. “Anything good in there? Dende and I don’t know a lot about magic, unfortunately. Fortuneteller Baba was a good call.” 

“I’m working on it,” Vegeta said. “These all seem ridiculous…” 

“Well, what’s the first one?” Goku asked. 

Vegeta flipped ahead a few pages. “Burn a bead from the caster’s favorite necklace. I don’t have any of those.” 

Goku stepped forward to read over Vegeta’s shoulder. “Hmm. Think maybe we could use a piece of the neckline of your armor?” 

“I don’t have the slightest clue,” Vegeta said flatly. “Sure. Why not.” 

“Looks like we also need a bunch of plants,” Goku said, squinting at the page. A tuft of Vegeta’s hair brushed against his cheek as he leaned down. “Chi-Chi should have those. Bonfire at my house?” 

Vegeta turned to look up at him. They were still very close. Vegeta should have elbowed him in the gut by now, or something - instead, he seemed content to have Goku basically breathing in his face. “Fine.” 

“Thanks for the update,” Piccolo said in front of them. He might have been sarcastic. 

“You’re welcome,” Goku said, glancing away from Vegeta for only a second before looking back. Since he was already mostly behind Vegeta, he wrapped his free hand around Vegeta’s shoulders to secure his hold. “Say hi to Gohan for me! Bye!” 

And then he Transmissioned them to Goku’s front yard. 

* * *

Vegeta was still staring at him. Goku lowered his hand from his forehead, but kept the other hugging Vegeta’s back. Vegeta’s eyes were too bright for him to think straight. 

“Kakarot,” Vegeta said softly. “About personal space-”

Goku dropped his arm and jumped backwards like he was burned. “Oh, sorry-”

“No,” Vegeta interrupted, snatching his hand out of the air before he could go too far. “I was just going to point out that-”

A slamming noise - Goten’s window flew open. “Dad!” Goten said, wiggling through his window frame and flying down towards them. Vegeta dropped his hand. “Hi! I thought it was you. And...Vegeta?”

Vegeta looked down his sharp nose at Goten, and Goten suddenly froze in midair. 

“Goten?” Trunks called from the same window, stucking his head out. “Who’s that weird - DAD?!” 

Goku inhaled sharply. He’d forgotten both of the boys were here. “Hey, kids, we’re actually here to just check in with Chi-Chi. Goten, have you seen your mom anywhere?”

“Dad!” Trunks repeated, distress leaking out of his voice, as he wiggled out the window and tried to barrel into Vegeta’s chest - he was stopped at the last second by Vegeta throwing up his free hand to keep him at arm’s length. “What’s wrong with you?” 

“I’m fine,” Vegeta growled. “Get a hold of yourself.” 

Trunks snapped his arms to his sides, but his eyes were still blown wide with worry. 

“Then why do you have that M on your forehead?” Goten asked, still drifting in the air around eye-level. “You’re not going to…” he exchanged a look with Trunks. 

Goku grabbed his son around the middle and hauled him to his chest. “Boys, we’re fine! Vegeta and I were just experimenting with fighting techniques to fight that witch that took away our ki, that’s all.” 

“Well, you beat her,” Trunks said, expression slowly melting into a glare. “So it’s over now. Stop.” 

“Are you presuming to give orders to me, boy?” Vegeta asked.

_ It’s Trunks,  _ Goku told himself.  _ Vegeta would never hurt Trunks. He’d never hurt Trunks.  _

Goten started squirming against Goku’s hold. “Are you sure he’s okay?” he asked, looking at Goku. “His energy’s all weird. Did something happen with Buu?” 

Goku attempted a smile. “Nothing happened with Buu. We’re both fine, I promise you. But maybe you me and Trunks can go-”

“I’m not going  _ anywhere!”  _ Trunks shouted, and suddenly went Super Saiyan. “Not until somebody tells me what’s going on!” 

Vegeta suddenly threw the spellbook in Goku’s direction, forcing him to let go of Goten to catch it. “If you want answers, you’re going to have to earn them.” 

“Fine!” Trunks shouted. 

“Fine!” Goten echoed. 

Vegeta and Trunks blasted off into the air - presumably off to go fight somewhere away from the house - but Goku caught Goten by the wrist before he could follow. “Dad!” Goten yelped. “Let me go! Trunks needs me!”

“This might be more of a family matter, buddy,” Goku said. “Why don’t you let Vegeta and Trunks fight it out?”

“You don’t understand,” Goten said. “Last time we saw Vegeta like this, he died!” 

“Vegeta’s not going to die,” Goku said. 

Goten did a barrel roll in the air, twisting until Goku was forced to either let go or risk breaking his son’s arm. Free, Goten rose more into the air, away from Goku. “You don’t know,” Goten said, hands clenched into fists at his sides. “You weren’t there.” 

And then he took off. 

Goku sighed, running a hand through his hair, debating whether to go after him or not. It probably wasn’t worth the trouble - keeping those two boys apart in a crisis was next to impossible. If Goten thought Trunks was in trouble, he wouldn’t leave without kicking and screaming. Not that Trunks was in trouble - Vegeta would never hurt him. And he’d never hurt Goten. 

Plus, this would give him the chance to talk to Chi-Chi alone.

Goku shuffled through his front door, casting his ki-sense around the house. Not the kitchen, not the bedroom...Chi-Chi was in her office. Goku made his way over, tapping his knuckles against the doorframe to grab her attention. 

Chi-Chi’s desk was pressed against a window to their garden; she turned around in her chair at his knock. “Oh, Goku, you’re home,” she said pleasantly, but then furrowed her brow. “Are you holding...a book?” 

He snorted at her confusion. “Yeah, me and Vegeta got it from Baba the Fortuneteller.” 

“May I see?” she asked, and Goku handed it over.  _ “101 Ways to Break a Curse... _ Goku, you aren’t cursed, are you? How’d your incident with that bad guy go? When Goten and Trunks started flying again I thought everything must be over.” 

“Of course I’m not cursed,” he reassured her. “Although, I did rip the back of my gi…” 

“Show me.” He turned around obediently. “Goku, is this  _ blood?”  _

“I’m fine!” 

“This is  _ so much  _ blood!” 

“Gohan gave me a sensu bean,” he dismissed. “Speaking of, Gohan’s looking well. He’s putting on more muscle again.” 

“Oh, good,” Chi-Chi said absentmindedly, putting down the book and pulling at his top. “Right after Pan was born he was so skinny.” 

“Way too skinny,” Goku said, shrugging out of the orange top and the t-shirt underneath. He followed Chi-Chi to the laundry room where she started treating the stain.

“So if you’re not cursed, who is?” 

“Vegeta,” he answered. “Well, I don’t know if it’s a curse, exactly. He did a spell on himself to go Super Saiyan when the rest of us couldn’t, and we don’t know how to take it off.” 

“So what’s the problem?” Chi-Chi said. “Is he stuck as a Super Saiyan? You used to spend weeks in that form.” 

“Yeah, to get used to it and build stamina,” he answered. “Vegeta’s so far past that now. He’s really upset.” 

Chi-Chi left his gear to soak in some water. “Oh, Goku,” she said, patting him on the chest as she passed him. “Why don’t you go shower and change, and I’ll make up some food?” 

“That sounds perfect,” he said. “Do you think we have enough for me, Vegeta, and the boys? He took them out for a spar.” 

“I’ll russel up something,” she said. 

It was nice to get off the residual blood and sweat in the shower, and luckily he had a fresh gi available to change into. He came back to the kitchen to see Chi-Chi at the table, reading the book while a pan simmered on the stovetop. 

She glanced up as he entered. “Orange again, huh? Still fighting?” 

He slid into the seat next to her. “I want to be ready for anything until we get Vegeta back to normal.” 

Chi-Chi nodded. “So which one of these were you going to try first?” 

“I dunno, Vegeta said something about burning a necklace bead?” 

“Oh, the first one,” Chi-Chi said. “Vegeta owns necklaces? I hope he wasn’t planning on burning something from Bulma’s.”

“Eh, we were going to substitute a piece from the neckline of his armor,” Goku said. “Oo, speaking of, can you help us with the herbs and stuff? I figured you’d know where to find them.”

“Sure,” Chi-Chi said, flipping the first page, and then stopping and flipping somewhere close to the back. “Actually, there’s an appendix with all of the most common plants you’ll need, and what can be substituted for what. Would you like me to make you up a whole kit, in case the first thing doesn’t work?” 

“That’d be amazing!” Goku exclaimed. To be honest, the first thing they tried probably wouldn’t work - but that was the point of training, right? They had pages and pages worth of counterspells to try. “You’re a genius, Chi-Chi.” 

She smiled, but was interrupted from whatever she was going to say by the  _ ding!  _ of a timer going off behind them. “Oh, food will be ready soon. Can you go fetch the boys?” 

“Sure thing,” he answered, jumping to his feet with her. He ducked his head to kiss her on the cheek before she went too. “Thank you. Really.”

She smiled, shoving playfully at his chest. “It’s just dinner, Goku. Am I supposed to let you starve?” 

“And for the plant kit,” he said, and then hesitated. “Um. I’m not sure how long breaking Vegeta’s spell is going to take. I might be gone for a little bit while we figure it out.” 

Chi-Chi smiled softly. “Don’t worry about it. It’s Vegeta, of course you would go.” 

She didn’t complain about him abandoning his job in the fields, this time - of course, he wasn’t off just to go training this time.The certainty of her voice made something flip in his stomach. It wasn’t that weird a thing to say - it was just the truth. He’d been just thinking something similar about Goten and Trunks earlier.

While he’d been thinking, Chi-Chi had turned back to the stovetop. “I’ll be right back with the boys,” he announced, and left. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Goku and Vegeta have a campfire and a conversation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just a reminder that, as always, I accept concrit on my works if you'd like to give any

Dinner was a quick affair. Trunks and Goten had come back with wide eyes and sealed lips, hanging off each other's sleeves in a way that reminded Goku of Gohan when he was a baby. Whatever Vegeta had done with the boys, they didn’t seem to want to talk about it - all three of them were just shoveling food down. 

The food was, as always, delicious. Chi-Chi didn’t blink an eye at Vegeta’s still-blond hair and pulsing aura. 

The boys excused themselves first, disappearing back to Goten’s room as soon as they could. “We should probably be going too,” Goku said. “We have to find a good place to make a big fire, and all.” 

Chi-Chi nodded, getting up and grabbing a knapsack she’d made. “Here,” she said, handing the bag and the counterspell book to Goku. “Good luck!” 

“Thanks,” Goku said. 

“Humph,” Vegeta said, pushing himself away from the table and stomping out of the house. 

“You’re welcome!” Chi-Chi called to his back, and was answered with the slamming of the front door. “I hope you’re able to break that spell quickly, Goku. He’s even worse than usual. He didn’t say a word all dinner.” 

“Me too,” he said. 

“I don’t know what you see in him,” Chi-Chi tisked. “Oh, well. Stay safe.” 

“I’ll do my best,” he promised, accepting her quick hug before striding out the door. 

Vegeta was waiting outside. The sun was dipping towards the horizon, but because of the long summer days they’d probably have another couple hours of daylight yet. “There you are,” he barked. “Took you long enough. Ready to go?” 

“Yup, got all the supplies right here.” Goku shrugged the bag over his shoulder and handed the spellbook to Vegeta. “You know, I used to have a kit just like this when I traveled the Earth as a kid. Just me and the Flying Nimbus.” 

Vegeta frowned. “The what?” 

“It was how I used to get around before I could fly on my own.” Goku re-adjusted the bag one last time, cutting himself off before he went into too much detail. He and Vegeta never went into their pasts in any depth - another unspoken agreement. “So, where to?” 

“Somewhere stone,” Vegeta ordered. “No cover. We’ll need a clear sky at midnight to do this thing.” 

“We’ve got a couple places like that around here,” Goku said, looking up. “And the weather looks good.” 

“Pick one,” Vegeta said, and held out his hand towards him, palm up.

Goku stared at Vegeta’s upturned hand, his mind blanking for a second. Was he supposed to be handing Vegeta something? What was he forgetting?

Vegeta scowled. “Well? Aren’t you going to take us there?” 

His thought process fractured completely.  _ Vegeta’s hand - Vegeta voluntarily agreeing to physical contact - Vegeta offering to hold my hand _ \- 

They never touched. Not outside of roughhousing, or very occasionally when they were about to die. It was too dangerous. 

“Uh,” Goku said, and then coughed to clear his throat. “I can’t instant transmission there. There’s no one’s ki for me to lock onto. It’s close, we can just fly.” 

The corner of Vegeta’s twitched, and then he looked back at Goku’s house for a moment for some reason. “Fine,” he said, withdrawing the hand. “Just go, then.”

He nodded and didn’t say anything as he took off, clutching the strap of his knapsack to his chest. 

* * *

The mountaintop Goku picked had a fairly large rocky outcropping for them to set up camp on. Vegeta didn’t disagree when Goku landed, which was essentially an approval. “I’ll gather up firewood,” was all he said. 

“Cool,” Goku said. “I’ll set up camp. How long do we have to stay here?” 

“The fire burns at midnight,” Vegeta answered dramatically, and then flew off down towards the valley, where some trees were. 

Goku whistled into the empty air. Midnight...they had some time to kill. Goku started putting together a fire pit in the middle of the clearing. Hopefully they could spar in the couple of hours they had, once Vegeta came back.

“No,” Vegeta said, less than a second after the suggestion left Goku’s mouth. 

“Aww, why not? It’s not like we’ve got anything better to do-”

“I’m not sparring with you in this condition,” Vegeta stated gruffly. “I pose no challenge.” 

“Like you’ve ever worried about that in the past-” Goku started, with an almost imperceptible edge of sarcasm: a tone that never failed to rile Vegeta up.

Sure enough, Vegeta’s head jerked straight in his direction and he bared his teeth in a snarl. “You trying to imply something, clown?” 

Goku took a step closer. “Fight me.” 

“No.” 

“Oh, come on.” 

“No!” Vegeta insisted, taking a step closer until he was right in Goku’s face. Despite his words, a bolt of lightning escaped into his aura, supercharging the air. “Not until I have my full power back.” 

“We usually only spar in base form, anway,” Goku argued. “Vegeta, you’re still super strong. You were so strong they sent you back to help fight Buu-”

“I don’t want to talk about that,” Vegeta snapped. Predictable. “I’ll break this stupid spell, and then I’ll kick your ass. Capisce?” 

“But it’ll be hours before midnight,” he whined. 

Vegeta stepped back, crossing his arms and sticking his nose in the air. Goku immediately missed the feeling of Vegeta’s aura pressing into his own. “You don’t have to stick around, Kakarot.” 

“Of course I do,” he answered instantly. 

Vegeta’s eyes narrowed. “Right. Still think I may be a threat?” 

“What? No, I…” Goku drummed his fingers against the edge of his thighs. “I want to - I need to help.” 

“Spare me the savior complex,” Vegeta ordered. “You’ve done enough. I have all your supplies, I can finish the rest on my own.” 

His hands clenched into fists. “I need to help because I owe you, remember?” Goku said, pushing the stabs of annoyance back down to his gut. “You saved my life. You saved the Earth.” 

“Then consider us even,” Vegeta said, “for all the debts I owed before.” 

No one else could frustrate him as efficiently as Vegeta could. Usually they’d have moved onto punches by now. “Is that the only reason you’ve ever helped me out in the past?” Goku asked sharply. “Debts?” 

“So what if it was?” 

“I’ve never known you to be a liar, Vegeta,” he snapped. Lightning cracked through Vegeta’s aura again at his words, but he pressed on. “You have never abandoned me when I needed you, and it’s dumb of you to think I would do the same to you.” 

“Don’t call me dumb, ” Vegeta ordered. “And this isn’t a battle, Kakarot. Why are you even here?” 

“This is the result of a fight where you pulled through for me when I was in trouble,” Goku said. “I’m staying.” 

“I’m not sparring.” 

“Fine,” Goku snarled, and then wondered if Vegeta had somehow planned for this outcome their whole argument. 

“Fine,” Vegeta retorted, and turned his back to open the supply knapsack that Goku had left on the ground. 

Goku opened his mouth to retaliate, but immediately snapped it shut again - he had a million reasons he was here and didn’t dare voice any of them. He couldn’t tell Vegeta that it was just as comforting as it was annoying when Vegeta tried to fight their enemies in his stead. He couldn’t tell Vegeta that it had been exhausting, being the bravest and strongest with no equal, and just knowing that Vegeta existed rejuvenated his love of battle time after time after time. That Vegeta never gave up - that every time Goku got in over his head, he knew he only had to hold out until he heard Vegeta’s old battlecry,  _ no one’s killing Kakarot except me -  _

He couldn’t tell Vegeta any of that. The only thing he could do was sit here, and stay until their mess was cleaned up. 

“Kakarot, you’re staring,” Vegeta said suddenly, glancing over his shoulder. 

Goku blinked, startled out of his thoughts. He blushed when he realized that he had been staring directly at Vegeta’s backside as he rummaged through their knapsack of ingredients. “Sorry,” he said, taking a seat on the ground. After a moment he flopped down backwards, cushioning the back of his head in his hands as he gazed up at the sky instead. 

“I didn’t say you had to stop,” Vegeta said. 

Goku’s gaze snapped back over to him instantly. There was an alarm going off in the back of his head, screaming  _ Danger! Danger! Danger!  _ “Very funny, Vegeta,” he said, outwardly calm. 

“It’s not a joke.” 

Goku ignored him, looking back up at the sky. Vegeta would be back to normal soon. Sure, they’d been looking and touching a little more than usual today, but that was just Majin Vegeta. Vegeta at his base instincts with no filter, as Piccolo had said. 

If Goku had been stuck in some lower form with no control over his base instincts, he probably wouldn’t act much different. Probably a few less threats - probably a few more blurted awkward truths that Vegeta would pretend to not have heard…

Eventually, all the noises from the other side of the fire pit stopped. “Kakarot, are you napping?” 

Goku swung back up into a sitting position. “Nope! Just meditating,” he said, placing his hands behind him and leaning back a little bit. “Finally dark out, huh? How much time do we have?” 

Vegeta glanced over at something on the ground, too far behind the firewood for Goku to see. “About an hour. A little less.” 

“Phew,” Goku said. “I can’t wait for you to have your full power back.” 

“Humph,” Vegeta grunted, taking a few steps over to Goku’s side and sitting down beside him, mimicking Goku’s position. 

“And then we can  _ finally  _ spar.” 

“It’ll be past midnight by then,” Vegeta scolded. “You just had a fight this morning.” 

“Aw, but it wasn’t against you,” Goku said, flashing Vegeta his cheekiest smile. “You know sparring with you isn’t like fighting anyone else in all the universes.” 

“How so?” Vegeta asked. 

They’d had this conversation dozens of times. Goku would whine, and Vegeta would push him away with some variation of  _ don’t try to butter me up, Kakarot _ .  “You’re not like any other fighter I’ve ever seen,” Goku continued. “Besides, if you don’t train with me, I’ll just have to get stronger on my own..” 

He left the sentence dangling. He always had to leave a dangling veiled threat of leaving Vegeta behind, so Vegeta could reluctantly agree. Which he should be doing in three..

“You would hate that,” Vegeta said. 

“I would,” Goku said, tilting his head in the other man’s direction. 

Two…

“So, whaddya say? For me?” He slid his hand over to just next to Vegeta’s, fingers barely brushing. Vegeta should be caving any-

Vegeta raised an eyebrow. “Why are you always flirting with me?” 

Goku’s entire body froze - his thoughts vanished, his heart skipped a beat. If their conversation was a train, it would have veered off track, fallen off a cliff, and exploded dramatically when it hit the bottom. He opened his mouth in an automatic denial, but all that came out was a few sputtering noises. He coughed, hard, to clear his throat. “Um, what?” 

“You heard me.” 

Had Vegeta’s gaze always been so piercing? Goku couldn’t breathe under the weight of his eyes, still artificially light from Super Saiyan. “I wasn’t flirting. I just asking you for-” 

“Bullshit,” Vegeta called. “You do it constantly.” 

_ Constantly? _ “What was I doing that was flirting?” 

“The compliments,” Vegeta fired off. “All the looking, the touching, the complete lack of personal boundaries-”

“I’m like that with everyone-”

“The hell you are, Kakarot!” he snarled. “There aren’t enough hours in a day!” 

So they spent a lot of time together. They were the only ones that could train their level, they had to. “Well, you flirt too,” Goku blurted out, instances flashing in his mind’s eye as he went on the offensive. Vegeta, staring at him. Vegeta, throwing smirks his way in the middle of battles, like their victories were inside jokes. Vegeta, growling witty commentary in his ear at Bulma’s parties, standing closer than was strictly necessary to make sure they weren’t overheard-

“I know that!” Vegeta said, and Goku’s brain promptly shattered again. “But I know why I do it. I asked why  _ you  _ did it.” 

Goku bit his tongue hard enough to taste blood. Kami, just to hear Vegeta’s acknowledgement of what they were doing - it felt like a gulp of water in the middle of the desert he hadn’t known he’d been stuck in. And there was a whole oasis right in front of him -  _ why do you flirt with me, Vegeta -  _ Majin Vegeta would probably tell him. He’d tell him what regular Vegeta wouldn’t, not in a million years. 

Not in a million, billion years. 

He couldn’t ask. 

“I made a mistake,” Goku forced out. “You don’t flirt. I don’t flirt, either.” 

Vegeta growled, slamming his fist into the ground. “Dammit, Kakarot! Stop dancing around this and just admit it!” 

“No way!” Goku said. “Not while you’re like this!” 

Vegeta stiffened. “What?!”

“You didn’t want to spar while you’re stuck Majin,” Goku said. “Well, I don’t want to talk about this, either. If you really want to know, you can ask me again when you’re normal. I’ll answer then.” 

Vegeta stared at him. “Really?” 

“Cross my heart,” Goku answered, drawing the motion over his chest. 

Vegeta’s eyes traced the movement. “You promise.” 

“I promise,” Goku answered. 

Vegeta jumped suddenly to his feet. “Fine,” he said, stalking back over to the other side of the fire pit where he’d left his supplies. “Let’s get this shit over with, then.” 

Goku blinked, his gut twisting in apprehension at Vegeta’s haste. There’s no way regular Vegeta would actually bring this up. Right? “Is it even midnight yet?” 

“It’s close enough,” Vegeta said. “Stand back and keep the hell out of my way.” 

“Yes, sir,” Goku drawled, not moving. 

* * *

Vegeta did a lot of complicated chanting while burning a piece of his armor, and some weird celery, and a candle that made Goku’s nose itch. 

He didn’t turn back to normal. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the record: Goku was napping


	5. Chapter 5

He’d known Vegeta for about half his life, at this point. There was nothing new about Vegeta. They’d once spent  _ three years  _ in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber with no one but each other. He knew Vegeta. Vegeta was familiar. Vegeta was comfortable-

Goku floated in the air, watching as Majin Vegeta threw a temper tantrum that blew up half the mountainside they’d been camping on, and decidedly ignored the fact that butterflies erupted in his stomach every time the other saiyan glanced his way. 

Ok, so the flirting conversation - that had been quite a ways into uncharted territory. Hopefully they were past that now. Vegeta would go back to normal, and they would both go back to their familiar, comfortable lives. 

_ I know why I flirt, Majin Vegeta had said-  _

Goku grit his teeth and shook the thought out of his head. He didn’t need to know. They had been happy the way they were. Just because Vegeta had said it out loud- 

_ Well. Maybe there was a reason we never said anything out loud.  _

He didn’t need to know. 

* * *

They camped out that night. The next day, they tried the second option in the book - wrapping a piece of Vegeta’s hair around a branch, and burying it at the bottom of a clear pond. As saiyan hair a) did not come out easily, and b) was not very bendy, it was harder than it sounded.

It also didn’t work. 

“This is why no one  _ fucking uses magic!”  _ Vegeta shouted into the air, replacing the pond with a 100-foot-deep crater. “Unreliable  _ piece of shit system!”  _

“Uh-huh,” Goku said from the ground, distracted, turning another page in the countercurse book. The third recipe in the book had told them how to make a magic mirror to reflect the curse back to its sender; as Vegeta was the sender, they were skipping that one. Goku planned on looking for the most fun spell to try next. “Hey, Vegeta! Want to try mud magic?” 

Vegeta looked down, and the ki-ball in his hand that he was preparing to send down into the crater vanished. “That sounds disgusting,” he said, lowering back down to the ground. “What is it?” 

“We gotta draw some shape in the mud,” Goku said, looking back down at the book. “And then...leave it to dry until the next new moon.” 

Vegeta wandered closer, leaning his head on Goku’s shoulder to get a look at the page as well. “Eugh, that’s a two week investment. Got anything faster?” 

Vegeta’s hair was poking him in his cheek, and Vegeta’s face was hot against his shoulder. Goku brushed the hair back off his face and sternly reminded his heart that Vegeta didn’t really mean anything by all the casual touching. It was just Majin Vegeta, with his impulses unrestrained. 

_ Which meant he was doing it because he wanted to.  _

Vegeta lifted his head to look up at Goku suddenly. “Alright there, Kakarot?” 

Goku cleared his throat. “Yeah, no problem,” he said. “Uh...there was a thing to create a little clay doll, and then singe its bottom with special fire and smash it?” 

“Creepy.” 

“Yeah, let’s save that one,” Goku said, and flipped some pages in the book. “Oo, there’s this banishment spell where you get covered in salt and charcoal, and then wash it off in the ocean.” 

“That sounds fast,” Vegeta said. “Let’s try it. Although if I have to go for a swim, it better be swimming somewhere warm.” 

“I know a place,” Goku said. He handed the book to Vegeta, and then placed two fingers on his forehead and held out the other for Vegeta to take. Which Vegeta did - he always took his hand, now. Goku squeezed his hand gently while he searched for a good spot - there, a deserted island not too far from Master Roshi’s ki signature. “Ready for the beach, Vegeta?” 

“Let’s just get this over with,” he answered, but squeezed Goku’s hand back. 

Goku smiled and instant transmissioned. 

* * *

The banishment spell was easier than the rest to prepare for- they had rock salt and a mixing bowl in their kit, and Goku popped over to his house for some charcoal and a quick hello to his family to round it off. 

“I’ve got a good feeling about this one,” Goku said, sitting on the beach and crunching the mixture in his hands. “This seems like our kind of spell.” 

Vegeta snorted from where he was standing above him, rereading something from the page for the ninth time before snapping the book shut and throwing it on the ground. “You just like making a mess.” 

“What, like you don’t?” he retorted. 

“Shut up,” Vegeta drawled, pulling his chest armor up over his head and throwing it on the ground. The gloves, boots, and blue battlesuit underneath quickly followed. 

Goku’s brain went on vacation sometime around when Vegeta’s pecs were revealed, and was dragged back by his sense of panic by the time he started on the pants. “Um, Vegeta, what are you doing?” 

Vegeta rolled his eyes. “You’ve read the spell too, moron. I’ve got to get covered in the stuff.” 

Goku gulped. “I thought it’d just be, like, the M on your forehead?” 

“It’s a full body spell,” Vegeta said, tossing his pants aside. He looked down at the back of his palms - veins still painfully apparent, straining against his skin. “Trust me.” 

Goku’s mouth had dried up. He dragged his eyes away from Vegeta -  _ naked Vegeta -  _ naked, super saiyan, Majin Vegeta - back down to the bowl, and took a deep breath. 

_ It was just Vegeta. There was nothing new about Vegeta.  _

Ha. Tell that to the furious blush he could just feel heating his cheeks.

“Just give that to me,” he heard Vegeta snap in front of him, and the bowl was suddenly snatched out of his grasp. “Honestly. You’d think someone in your position would be taking advantage of such a good view.” 

Goku’s eyes widened, and he looked up at Vegeta instinctively before snapping his eyes back down. Was that a  _ joke?  _ “Aw, Vegeta, I’d never take advantage. You know that.” 

Vegeta scoffed. “I suppose it wouldn’t matter if I gave you permission?” 

“Regular you would hate it,” Goku said to the ground. 

He didn’t answer right away, just shuffling around in the sand some more. Goku paid very careful attention to his breathing and consciously did not picture what Vegeta probably looked like right now - even though it’d probably be funny, him all covered in gunk. 

“Kakarot,” Vegeta said, and the bowl with the mixture was unceremoniously shoved back under his nose. “If we can bypass your delicate sensibilities for one second, would you check my back? I can’t be sure I got everything.” 

Goku took the bowl and raised his eyes carefully. “Sure,” he answered, and the corner of Vegeta’s mouth twitched before he turned around. He stood up slowly. Vegeta  _ had  _ missed a few spots, and Goku carefully applied a coating of the banishment spell mixture. The humidity made it stick to his skin easily. 

_ It would be so easy to run his hands over Vegeta’s entire body -  _

“Done!” Goku said, causing Vegeta to glance back over his shoulder at him. Vegeta was filthy-looking, charcoal sticking to his eyebrows and hair in particular, the worst sort of mockery of his usual black hair. “Oh, you missed another spot behind your ear.” 

He reached up automatically and traced the shell of Vegeta’s ear with two fingers. Vegeta leaned just slightly into the touch, so that Goku ended up with Vegeta’s jaw in his hand. Vegeta was staring at him. His eyes were too bright. 

“Kakarot,” Vegeta said. 

Goku’s thumb twitched with the urge to stroke Vegeta’s face, and he was suddenly hit with the desperate, terrible desire to kiss him. 

_ Wait. Kiss?  _

_ They could look, they could touch, but they could never, ever in a million years-  _

Goku dropped his hand and stepped away, averting his eyes. “Good luck!” he chirped, voice wavering even to his own ears. 

Vegeta let out a long sigh. “Pathetic,” Goku heard him mumble, and then just the crunching of sand as Vegeta walked into the ocean. Goku closed his eyes and focused on Vegeta’s ki; still dark and mercurial in mood, but strong enough to shine bright against- 

Vegeta’s ki suddenly vanished. 

Goku’s eyes flew up, and he jumped up into the air and over to the space he’d last felt Vegeta. Hovering over the waves, he searched for the other saiyan. The water wasn’t very deep. Where the hell could he have gone?

Goku closed his eyes again and reached out with his ki, throwing his sense out as far as he could. Vegeta wouldn’t be that powerful, compared to his usual, but a super saiyan was still a super saiyan - 

There! Miles and miles out to sea. 

Goku flew out, just high enough to avoid the spray of the waves, and was relieved when he felt Vegeta’s ki flying back towards him as well. He slowed down a little, meeting Vegeta halfway to the middle of the ocean. “Hey, there you are! What happened? It doesn’t look like it worked.” 

Vegeta was still Majin. “What HAPPENED,” he shouted, summoning a ball of ki and pelting it into the water, “was that the stupid spell fucking BANISHED me to the BOTTOM OF THE GODDAMN OCEAN!” 

“Oh, we got one of them to do something!” Goku said. “That’s-” he ducked to avoid a punch Vegeta sent flying towards his mouth. “It’s like teleporting with extra steps!” 

“Magic  _ sucks,”  _ Vegeta spat. “Where the fuck are our supplies? You better not have lost them-”

“I didn’t, don’t worry,” Goku said, and he started leading the way back towards their island. Vegeta threw a couple of ki blasts at his back, but he dodged easily and Vegeta eventually gave up. 

His stomach growled in the middle of their return flight. It’d be nice to catch a couple fish to roast for dinner, he mused to himself. Besides, then he’d have the excuse to strip down in front of Vegeta, so regular Vegeta wouldn’t be awkward later about the only one being naked- 

His mind’s eye caught on the image of him and Vegeta both naked on the beach and froze there. 

_ OK,  _ swimming in his clothes it was! It had to be. Even though Goku didn’t know where he got off... _ wanting  _ things like this, lately. It was so stupid. He’d never be able to kiss Vegeta, let alone anything else. It was pointless to spend time thinking about it. He was happily married, Vegeta was happily married, that was it, point blank, game over, tap out. He knew that. Vegeta knew that. 

Goku bit his lip. Vegeta knew that, but it seemed like Majin Vegeta didn’t care. 

* * *

Goku started popping by his home a little more often for “more supplies.” If seeing his family also reminded him why he couldn’t - couldn’t want  _ those things _ ...

Well. Added bonus. 

It’s not like regular Vegeta would ever want them, either. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> short and sweet one today. thank you so much for all the feedback! you're all amazing.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Goku has a very busy morning & several revelations

They started clipping through counter-spell attempts at a blistering pace. Between all the ones they had completed and the ones Vegeta deemed unsuitable for his situation, they were going to run out suggestions from Baba’s book within the next few days. 

For someone who had never cast any magic in his life and had no interest in it, Goku sure had seen a lot of attempts. He’d seen Vegeta carve little figurines, mix weird polstices, gouge weird symbols into rocks, and more - and then systematically destroy everything he’d just made at the end of the spell. A lot of the spells called for burning or burying something - the other half were just torched by Vegeta when they didn’t work. 

“Hey, how do you know some of them won’t take longer to work?” Goku asked one day, laying on his back and watching the clouds as Vegeta destroyed a colony of mushrooms. 

“It’s magic, Kakarot,” Vegeta spat at him. “It’ll be instant.” 

“How do you know?” 

“Who’s done more magic, me or you? Hollow-headed idiot!” 

Goku pouted, but knew not to take the insults too seriously. There was no way Majin Vegeta would feel guilty enough to stop himself from name calling when he was angry. 

Especially considering Majin Vegeta didn’t feel guilty enough to stop himself from flopping down next to Goku and resting his head on Goku’s shoulder when he was done. 

Vegeta’s Majin ki was starting to feel comforting. It would be that way when he’d spent almost every second in Majin Vegeta’s pocket these days, he supposed - not really anything he could do about it. Especially since Vegeta had been getting bolder and bolder with touching Goku as the days went by. 

Goku was reluctant to bring up the subject again in conversation, so technically he hadn’t discouraged (or encouraged) the touching. He wasn’t good enough with words for dancing around the whys of the subject; safer just to avoid it entirely. Vegeta wasn’t doing anything  _ wrong,  _ anyway. 

(Besides, if he did bring it up and asked him to stop, Vegeta probably would. And there was still that one part of Goku, as much as he wished it away, that desperately,  _ desperately,  _ didn’t want Vegeta to stop.) 

* * *

They were camping out near a river. They’d had fresh fish and a medley of fruit for dinner, and went to bed early after another failed attempt. 

Now, Goku could and would pretend to be oblivious to a lot of things: the humans' frustrations when he didn’t power up in a big fight right away, Chi-Chi’s chore schedule, Vegeta’s annoyance when Goku purposefully mistook an insult for a compliment. 

But when he woke up in the middle of the night to find his head resting on Vegeta’s bicep - and Vegeta’s other arm was around his waist - and Vegeta was snoring softly, his breath rustling the tips of Goku’s hair - 

Goku could ignore a lot of things. But the white-hot blazing feeling in his heart when he woke up and looked at Vegeta? He couldn’t ignore that. 

He swallowed the lump in his throat and extracted himself carefully. It wasn’t quite dawn yet, so Goku had some time before Vegeta woke up. Besides, even if Vegeta did wake and found him gone, hopefully he’d assume that Goku had gone hunting for food, or something. 

Goku raised his fingers to his forehead and cast out his sense for his oldest friend. Bulma’s ki hadn’t changed much since they were both children. He found it easily; she and Bulla were right next to each other, and Bulla’s ki was flaring up and down. They were probably both awake. 

He closed his eyes, and didn’t open them again until he was in Capsule Corp. 

* * *

_ “WAAAAAehhhhhh! Waa-EEEEEHHHH!”  _

Goku opened his eyes. He was in the kitchen. Bulla was in just a diaper in her high chair, and was red in the face from screaming. Bulma was in her pajamas. 

“Who even puts baby food in such small cans!” Bulma was muttering to herself, struggling with a jar. By the looks of it, about the 10th one that Bulla would be eating that morning. 

“Want any help?” Goku asked. 

She looked up. “So I did hear you,” she said, passing over the jar. “Thought I was hallucinating. I’ve been up since 2 with the little monster. Can you feed her while I warm up another bottle of milk?” 

“Sure,” he answered. Bulla screamed again, and he turned to the table while Bulma swore under her breath and headed deeper into the kitchen, towards the fridge. “Hey, no need for that. I’ve got what you need right here.” He popped the cap off easily and settled down into the chair next to Bulla. “You ready for this delicious...orange something?” 

Bulla stopped screaming for a moment to stare at him. “Meh eeeeeeee,” she whined, and made grabby hands for the jar. 

Goku guided the jar to her mouth, supporting the other end gently as she slurped up the baby food like she was drinking from a cup. There was no point in trying to get her to use the spoon flung halfway across the table; she was too hungry for that. Luckily, also too hungry to be making too much of a mess. 

Bulma trudged back in from the kitchen, holding a bottle of milk and eventually collapsing in the chair on Bulla’s other side. “Thirsty, baby?” 

Goku pulled away the empty jar, and Bulla smacked her lips and grabbed eagerly for the bottle. Bulma handed it over with a sigh of relief, and then rested her head on her palms. “Phew. That should buy us a few minutes.”

“She’s adorable,” Goku said, leaning back and crossing his hands behind his head. 

“Ha,” Bulma said. “She’s something, all right. What’s up?”

He took another look at the bags under Bulma’s eyes, and decided now might not be the best time after all. “Oh, just wanted to check in.” 

“You?” she said. “Bull-shit. What’s up, Goku?” 

“It can wait.” 

“You’re already here,” she said. “Tell me.” 

“You sure?” 

“I’m tough,” she promised. “Come on, out with it.” 

Goku opened his mouth, paused, and shut it again. He bit his lip. Finally, he admitted, “I was going to ask you to take Vegeta back.” 

Bulma sat up straight. “Wait,  _ what?”  _ She blinked at him suspiciously. “Here? While he’s - like  _ that?”  _

He grimaced. “I’m sorry. We haven’t been able to fix it yet.” 

“What did he do to you?” Bulma demanded. 

“Do to me?” Goku echoed. “Nothing. It’s not that, I just need some space.” 

“You need space from a Vegeta who’s even more violent than usual?” 

“He actually won’t spar with me,” Goku admitted. 

Bulma’s eyes raked him up and down, pinning him to his chair. “Oh,” she said. “So you guys have just been…?” 

“Spellbreaking, yeah,” he said. “And nothing’s been working, and he’s still kind of dangerous on his own without someone to hold him back, and - I figured you probably miss him.” 

Bulma folded her arms across her chest. “Of course I miss him,” she said, “but I can’t do anything to hold Vegeta back from a temper tantrum. Not when he’s like this.” 

“He listens to you,” Goku tried. 

“Has he been listening to you?” she shot back, and Goku winced. Vegeta wouldn’t hurt him on purpose, but they’d probably have to spare a dragonball wish on behalf of Mother Nature when all this was done. “Yeah, that’s what I thought. Look, can you just hold on a little while longer? I’ll reach out to Whis or something, I don’t know. Maybe Jaco has a contact who knows magic.”

“Come on, Bulma,” he whined. “You gotta help me out here. Just for a day?” 

“You’ve spent way more time with him than this before,” Bulma said. “What’s wrong? You love Vegeta.” 

Goku’s heart skipped a beat. “Whaaaaaat?” he echoed, voice a little too high. “Me? Love Vegeta? That’s crazy. You’re crazy.” 

Bulma blinked at him. 

Goku was suddenly acutely aware of all his limbs. “Am I sitting weird?” he asked suddenly, straightening up. “I feel like the way I’m sitting is weird. Your kitchen chairs are really small.”

Bulma kept staring. 

“Soooooo...I’ll drop Vegeta off here?” he said. 

“Goku,” Bulma said, low, laser-focused. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?” 

He swallowed. His palms were sweating. “Saying? I’m not saying anything. You know me, I’m a simple guy, I just say nonsense sometimes, you know? I don't know what I'm talking about.” 

“Goku,” she repeated. “Have you thought about having this conversation with Vegeta?” 

“There’s no conversation to have,” he corrected quickly. 

“I really feel like he needs to hear this.” 

“It’s nothing,” he insisted. “Besides, what am I supposed to do, just romance Majin Vegeta and have regular Vegeta come back and kill me-”

“Romance?” she interrupted. 

Piccolo’s Special Beam Cannon suddenly had nothing on Bulma’s stare. She was pinning him down, and Goku couldn’t move, sweat was beading up on his forehead-

Her gaze only broke when Bulla finished her milk and suddenly threw her empty bottle across the table. Bulma jumped and turned towards her daughter, and Goku suddenly remembered how to breathe again. “BYE!” he yelled, and instant transmissioned to the safest ki and place he knew. 

* * *

Chi-Chi was brushing her hair in front of the mirror on top of their dresser. Goku took one look at their empty bed, and immediately kicked off his boots and dove onto the mattress. 

Chi-Chi stopped, whirling around. “Goku?” 

“Hi,” he said. His voice probably came out a little muffled from all the blankets and pillows he was burrowing under. 

“What are you doing under there?” 

Goku had his usual pillow over his head, and was hugging Chi-Chi’s to his chest. “I told Bulma I had romantic feelings for Vegeta,” he admitted, squeezing his eyes shut as hard as they could go.

He felt the mattress dip as Chi-Chi sat on the edge. “And why did you do that?” she asked, voice neutral. 

He squeezed the pillow against his chest harder. “Because I have romantic feelings for Vegeta,” he said, and braced himself for the shouting. 

It didn’t come. He waited one, two, three seconds - but Chi-Chi didn’t say anything. Instead, she just started rubbing his shoulder through all the blankets. 

Goku poked his head back up above all the pillows to look at her. Chi-Chi looked a little worried, but not nearly as much as he’d always assumed she would be. “Well?” he demanded. “Didn’t you hear me?” 

“I heard you,” she said. 

“Aren’t you going to say something?” he asked. “Aren’t you mad? Shocked? Disappointed?” 

Her brow furrowed. “Goku,” she said, “I already knew.” 

He reared back a little, eyes wide. His voice made a little squeaky noise and then died in his throat. 

“Oh, hon,” Chi-Chi said, squeezing his shoulder. “It’s okay. I’m not mad. I knew you couldn’t help it.” 

He swallowed. “You knew?” he asked desperately. “How could you have known? I didn’t even know until this morning.”

She bit her bottom lip. “Can I show you something in my office?”

“Okay,” he agreed. 

“You’ll have to leave the bed.” 

Goku groaned and pushed himself up into a sitting position. “Okay, okay.” 

“Quick, before Goten gets up,” Chi-Chi said. “Although he’s been sleeping in more than usual lately. He’s going to be a teenager soon enough.” 

“He’s too young for that,” Goku said, following Chi-Chi out of their bedroom and down the hall. Sure enough, Goten’s door was still closed, the room dark. “I didn’t sleep all that much when I was his age.”

“Goten doesn’t have to keep his own watch for wild animals,” Chi-Chi answered, entering her office and making a beeline to the corkboard above her desk. She pulled down a brightly-colored piece of paper that she’d pinned there. “Alright. Bulma got a hold of a second copy of your book, and a couple of us thought we’d try to follow along with your process.” She handed him the paper. 

Goku stared at it for several seconds, taking in the table and all the bright  _ X’s  _ Chi-Chi had made through several boxes. “Is this a bingo card?” 

“It is,” she said. 

His eyes scanned the rows quickly. “You made a bingo card for which counterspells me and Vegeta have tried?” 

“We randomized it,” Chi-Chi said. “Whenever you stop by for more supplies we report your latest attempts to the group.” 

Goku looked up at her. “Group?” 

“Me, Gohan, Videl,” she said. “Krillin and 18 each have their own cards. Bulma said no - she’s a bit terrified of his Majin personality, I think. Oh! Dende’s playing too, I almost forgot that.”

“Dende,” Goku repeated blankly. Oh man, was Vegeta going to have a cow when he found out about this. 

“Look at the middle space,” Chi-Chi ordered. “I edited mine, away from the others.” 

He looked. The word  _ FREE  _ had been crossed out, and replaced in neat handwriting with  _ True Love’s Kiss.  _ He closed his eyes for a second, and then opened them and read it again. The words were still there. “I don’t know what to say,” he murmured. “Bulma, right?” 

“She probably would be able to,” Chi-Chi acknowledged. “But I don’t think she’d be the only one. She’s counting on you to handle this particular problem, I think.” 

He felt a little light-headed.  _ You should really tell Vegeta,  _ Bulma had said. “This is crazy,” he said. “I once told Vegeta I didn’t know what kissing was.” 

Chi-Chi raised an eyebrow. 

“It was hilarious,” he defended. “But that’s - that’s the closest we’ve ever gotten to, um, that. You know that, right?” 

She gently slid the paper out of his hands and tacked it back up on the wall. “I trust you, Goku,” she said. “And even if you were to do  _ that  _ with him, I don’t anything else would have to change. Right?” 

He stepped forward and scooped her into his arms, squeezing as tight as he dared. “I’d like that,” he said. “Do you really think just a kiss would work? Nothing else we’ve tried has.” 

Chi-Chi patted him on the cheek. “I do,” she said. “It’s a good old-fashioned curse breaker, and I’m a romantic. Plus, if you try it then I’ll get a BINGO.” 

He let go of her. “Well, I better go win you that game then,” he said, ignoring the slight tremor in his voice as he raised his fingers to his forehead. 

“Good luck,” Chi-Chi said. 

He gave her a shaky smile, and instant transmissioned back to the most dangerous ki and place there was. 

* * *

Majin Vegeta was awake. He was sitting with his back against a tree, legs out in front of him and reading the stupid counterspell book again. He scowled when he saw Goku appear. “There you are,” he barked. “Where the hell did you go?” 

“Sorry,” Goku said breathlessly. “Didn’t mean to worry you.” 

Vegeta rolled his eyes. “You’re the biggest inconvenience I’ve ever encountered in all the galaxy. One of the house robots would be a better assistant than you.” 

Goku ignored him, stepping forward and ripping the book out of Vegeta’s hands. He tossed it somewhere behind him. 

Vegeta’s jaw dropped in outrage, and he jumped to his feet. “What the hell, Kakarot? Did it look like I was finished with that?” 

Goku squared his shoulders like he was squaring up for a fight. “Do you remember the first time you went Majin?” he said. 

Vegeta glared at him. “I’m not fucking sparing with you.” 

“You said that you weren’t going to let things stay the same between us anymore,” Goku continued. That battle had been burned permanently into his mind.  _ I will not live my life as your second! That time is over!  _

“What are you getting at, Kakarot?” 

He took another step into Vegeta’s space, backing him into the tree. He reached up to take Vegeta’s jaw with one hand; up close, he could see every vein, every muscle straining against Majin Vegeta’s skin. He could see Vegeta's pupils widening in the middle of his power-bright blue eyes. “You win again,” he murmured. 

And then he kissed him. 

* * *

Vegeta’s lips were hot. His body was hard. His aura felt like lightning. 

And then suddenly his was kissing back, his lips soft, and his ki - his ki - 

* * *

With effort, Goku managed to pull away, his eyes sliding open. 

Vegeta’s black eyes stared back at him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> consistent chapter length? I don't know her 
> 
> thank you so much for all the feedback! you guys are amazing.


	7. Part 2: Vegeta

Kakarot’s lips were soft. His hand cradling Vegeta’s jaw was gentle. His other hand, at Vegeta’s waist, held him like he was a prized possession. His aura was like - was like - 

Vegeta relaxed his stiff muscles for the first time in days, and kissed back like he could find the taste of home in Kakarot’s mouth. Kakarot answered the wave of enthusiasm with his own, pressing himself into Vegeta’s lips hard before pulling away suddenly. 

Vegeta’s eyes fluttered open. Kakarot was staring at him, a smile slowly blooming on his face. The longer Vegeta looked, the more he smiled. 

Kakarot had kissed him. 

_ Kakarot had kissed him.  _

Vegeta’s heart was burning in his chest, and a muted third thought registered in the distant back of his mind: he wasn’t Majin anymore. 

* * *

When Vegeta was a teenager, he’d once had the misfortune of being sent to purge a planet whose atmosphere contained virtually no oxygen. He’d skipped reading the mission brief past the  _ clear entire population  _ objective, and had stepped out onto a planet with plenty of air and nothing to breathe. 

De-transforming felt like that: like he was suddenly swarmed with an invisible force, strangling him, impossible to defeat. 

Kakarot was still goddamn smiling. 

Vegeta shoved him backwards. Kakarot stumbled as the heel of one of his bare feet hit a tree root. “Where are your shoes?” Vegeta snapped, in lieu of actually addressing anything important. 

Kakarot had the nerve to glance down and check. “Oh. I must have left them back at the house.” 

_ The house? Why the fuck had Kakarot had left his shoes...at his wife’s house?  _

Snarling under his breath, Vegeta stomped past Kakarot and back towards their campsite. He didn’t care what that idiot did. He cared so much he couldn’t stand it. The counterspell book was still lying crumpled on the ground behind them. Vegeta’s hand twitched with the urge to blow it to kingdom come, but he resisted. After all, he’d already destroyed plenty of things this week. 

“Vegeta?” the other man asked behind him. Vegeta ignored him, looking around their camp instead. The entire thing set his blood boiling - he’d been stuck in that stupid form here. He’d been helpless, waiting for Kakarot to save him, here. 

“I’ll...help you pack,” Kakarot said, strolling forward and starting to shove their materials into his bag. 

Vegeta ignored him and crossed his arms over his chest. His heart was racing, each shallow breath a struggle. He wanted to shoot himself into outer space and never speak to anyone again. He wanted to shoot Kakarot into outer space so he wouldn’t have to look at him. He wanted to kiss Kakarot again.  _ Shit.  _

“So, hey,” Kakarot said, interrupting his thoughts. He held their bag of supplies loosely in one hand. “Want to spar?” 

He glared.  _ “No,  _ I do not want to spar! Is that really your biggest priority right now?” 

Kakarot shrugged. “You said you would when you turned back to normal.” 

“I said that we couldn’t spar until then,” Vegeta snapped. “Not that we would this instant.” 

“Fine, fine,” Kakarot dismissed. “So...is there anything else you want to do?” 

Screw him. Kakarot had kissed him, and then had the nerve to ask  _ Vegeta  _ what he wanted? He stared, but Kakarot was just looking at him expectantly, like nothing was wrong. “No!” he spat. 

“No?” Kakarot echoed, his eyebrows drawing up. 

“I’m going home,” Vegeta stated. He uncrossed his arms. “And Kakarot - if anyone asks, I undid this spell the same way I cast it. By  _ myself. _ Clear?” 

Kakarot’s jaw dropped a little, but he didn’t say anything. He just stared at Vegeta with those huge pouty eyes, lips stuttering in little motions that never became words. What did he want? For Vegeta to throw himself into Kakarot’s arms,  _ again?  _ Hadn’t he spent enough years of his life chasing that fool?

Vegeta’s hands clenched into fists at his sides. Kakarot had no right to look betrayed. Without another word, he took off into the sky. 

* * *

He’d barely touched down onto the capsule corp lawn when a purple-headed blur came barrelling towards him. “DAD!” 

He let Trunks collide with his chest - Trunks’s forehead collided painfully with Vegeta’s collar bone, but the boy didn’t seem to notice it. “Dad! You’re back!” 

“Yes.” It had certainly taken him long enough. He took an extra second to make sure his face wasn’t showing any emotions. 

“And you’re back to normal!” Trunks cheered, sliding down to the ground. “You missed Mom, she just left for work.” 

“I’ll send her a message.” Vegeta started walking inside. Trunks flitted around his waist, alternating between leading the way and looking back at his father like he was going to disappear if left out sight for too long. Vegeta felt a twinge of guilt for not checking in at all since the day of the battle, but pushed it aside. It couldn’t be helped - his Majin self hadn’t even thought about it. 

“Grandma and Grandpa have Bulla today,” Trunks said. “Though I think she’s sleeping. Mom said she was up all night.” 

Vegeta nodded along to Trunks’s chatter and made his way to the kitchen. Step one, food. He took a glance at a clock on the way to the fridge. “Aren’t you supposed to be in school right now?” 

Trunks shrugged unapologetically. “The tutor will still be there when I go back,” he said. Vegeta grunted in acknowledgement and started preparing himself food. “You haven’t missed that much. Piccolo was here to talk with Mom one time. Me and Goten asked him if he wanted to do more fusion training, but he said no. Oh! Goten made friends with this new dinosaur! Goten says it’s a dragon, but it doesn’t look very much like Shenron, so I don’t think so.” 

Vegeta sat down at the table and started eating. 

“I’ve been keeping up with my training,” Trunks said earnestly. “Well, me and Goten have been together. The gravity room is kind of boring all by myself, and Mom said I wasn’t allowed to use the battle droids without adult supervision. Now that you’re back, could you teach me how to use them? I’ll be able to help with the repairs when they get broken and stuff. I’m good at that.”

Vegeta raised an eyebrow. Trunks had never taken much of an interest in tinkering with mechanics, much to Bulma’s dismay. If he was now, it was probably because of that little girl Trunks shadowed with painful obviousness. “Maybe.” 

“Yesss,” Trunks hissed, pumping a fist in victory. 

Vegeta continued eating, letting his son’s words wash over him in a soothing refrain. Bulma’s parents had gotten a new parakeet - Bulla had broken one of Trunks’s old toys - Bulma had another award dinner she was going to drag the family to this month. All the news was familiar, comfortable, and Vegeta felt the last of the tension drain out of his body. His family was still here, and nothing had changed. He could work with that. 

He finished eating, and listened a little while longer just because he could. Trunks eventually paused at the end of a story to draw breath, so he took the opportunity to say, “You’ve been away from your schoolwork long enough.” 

“Aww, Dad,” Trunks whined, but he glanced over at the clock anyway. “Fine. See you later.”

He’d voiced it as a statement, but Vegeta knew his son well enough to see the question in his eyes. “When you have time, I’ll have to verify whether you’ve really been keeping up with your training or not,” he answered, pushing himself up from the table. 

Trunks lit up, bouncing up from his seat as well. “I have been!” he insisted. 

“We’ll see.” Vegeta turned to pick up his dishes and leave them in the sink. 

“Hey, um, Dad?” 

He turned back around. Trunks had wandered closer. “I’m glad you’re back,” he stated, hands on his hips and chin up like he was announcing a battle cry. 

Bulma had tried to talk with him several times about  _ feeling statements.  _ You can’t just ignore Trunks every time he has an emotion, she’d said. It hadn't stopped him from doing so anyway, most of the time. 

But Trunks was staring at him now with his sentiment fresh in the air, like a challenge,  _ (like how you were supposed to do it), _ so Vegeta raised a hand and ran his fingers over the top of Trunks’s earth-soft hair. “If you’re gone from school too much longer your mother will be out for blood,” he said gently, voice audibly fond. 

Trunks ducked out from under his grip before Vegeta could disturb too much of his hair. “I know, I know,” he said, and rolled his eyes while leaving the kitchen, a satisfied smile on his face.

* * *

Bulma had come home for lunch, interrupting him in the middle of his own much-needed training. He’d whipped around to face the door as the gravity room was shut down from the outside, sensing her presence. “Woman!” he bellowed. “I was in the middle of something!” 

“Hey, I interrupted my busy day for this,” she said, stepping forward into the room. He floated down and landed in front of her.  _ “Wow,  _ you stink. Haven’t they heard of washing themselves out in the woods or wherever you and Goku were?” 

“I’d have to shower again after training,” he said, reaching out and grabbing Bulma by her hips anyway. “No point in doing it twice.” 

Bulma placed hands on Vegeta’s bare chest. “Gross,” she murmured absentmindedly, examining his face and shoulders. “So, can’t help but notice you’ve ditched the forehead tattoo.” 

Vegeta rolled his eyes. “I needed it to save your lousy planet,” he pointed out. “By the way,  _ you’re welcome.”  _

“ _ Our  _ lousy planet,” she corrected, moving her hands up to around his neck, and Vegeta rolled his eyes as he tilted his head forward to kiss the smirk off her lips. “Ew, sweaty,” she mumbled into his mouth. 

“Shut up,” he said, because he knew for a  _ fact  _ she didn’t really mind that. The smell? ...Maybe. 

Bulma pulled back, still smirking at him. “What’d you and Goku do this morning to kick it?” she said. “It must have been pretty drastic.” 

She may as well have just poured ice down his spine. Vegeta stiffened and pushed her farther away. “I don’t want to talk about it.” 

“Did you guys get in a fight?” she asked. “He seemed pretty panicked when he left here this morning.” 

“Kakarot was here?” he blurted out automatically, and then immediately bit his tongue. 

Bulma raised an eyebrow. “Yeah,” she said, and then  _ didn’t say anything else.  _

He very carefully didn’t move. 

She broke the silence first - she always broke the silence first. “Oh, come on, give me something!” 

“Tell me what Kakarot said to you first.” 

“I can’t tell you what he said unless he already told you,” Bulma said, almost gleeful. “So you tell me what he said to you.” 

“He didn’t  _ say  _ much of anything.” What could Kakarot possibly have said to Bulma? What had he been up to this morning, that involved coming here, and then to his wife’s house, and then - then - 

Bulma slumped. “Darn. Classic men, honestly. Just punched you in the face or something, right? My first theory was that he’d knock it out of you-”

“No,” Vegeta interrupted, offended, even though Kakarot had fully been capable of grinding him into dust, if he so chose. “I wish he had. Instead he  _ kissed  _ me.” 

He sneered the last two words, like Kakarot’s kiss had been a meer insult instead of something that had knocked his world off-kilter. Bulma’s jaw dropped. “No way,” she said, but she seemed more morbidly fascinated than anything else. “Goku? He didn’t say anything, he just went up and…?” 

Vegeta nodded. 

“I didn’t think he was ballsy enough for that,” Bulma said. “Oh my gosh. Is that when the fight happened?” 

“Woman, there was no fight,” he snapped. 

“Then how’d you get cured?” 

“I told you.” He scowled, made a jerky gesture towards his mouth. 

Bulma’s eyes widened into saucers. “The kiss cured you?” she said. “Goku’s kiss was able to -  _ holy shit,  _ babe!” 

“What?” he said crossly. 

“He True-Love’s-Kissed you! I can’t believe that worked! That’s, like, fairy tale magic! It wasn’t even in the book-”

“He what kissed me?” Vegeta interrupted. 

Bulma sucked in a breath. “Oh my gosh, you don’t know,” she said. “Of course you don’t. I can’t even imagine what Saiyan fairy tales are like.” 

“The hell is a fairy tale?” he snarled. 

Bulma grabbed him by the hand and started pulling him out of the room. Vegeta let her, only because she was leading him to the answers for her nonsense ramblings. “Here on Earth we have a lot of children’s stories involving magic,” she said, speed walking through the halls until they ended up in Bulla’s room. “They’re usually hundreds or thousands of years old, I think. There used to be some gory ones to scare little kids into not wandering off too far from home, but the only ones around today are the cutesy commercialized ones.” 

“Shame,” Vegeta said. “Trunks could use a little more fear.” 

“I blame you for that,” Bulma said, dashing between shelves and toy chests full of Bulla’s play things. “Where are - anyway. There’s a lot of fairy tales that revolve around the main character getting cursed or transformed in some way, and they always get cured with a True Love’s Kiss.  _ Aha!”  _ She pulled a red cardboard box out of the back of one of Bulla’s shelves. The box was filled with little tiny cardboard books with thick glossy pages. “Baby’s first set of fairy tales! I knew it was around here somewhere.” 

“You’re telling me there’s an ancient Earth magic called-” his throat close up, because he did  _ not  _ like the name of it “-that, and you’re giving me books meant for children as evidence?” 

“Just read them,” Bulma said, shoving the box into Vegeta’s arms. “I’m proving to you that I’m not making this up. There’s one kind of magical spell-breaking kiss out there that I bet even Goku knows about.” 

Vegeta glared down at the box. “So he was just trying to break the spell, then. I don’t see what’s so important about that. We were doing the same thing for the last two weeks.” 

Bulma waved a hand in front of his face, forcing him to look up. “Goku told me this morning that he loved you,” she said bluntly. “He was trying to give me a chance to do something before he acted on it, I think. Or he was having a hard time holding himself back, I don’t know. It was really early and he was terrified of actually acknowledging it, so we were kind of talking in circles the whole time.”

He stared at her in shock, having temporarily forgotten how to make words. Kakarot told her that  _ what?  _ Bulma must have misunderstood.  _ Bulma’s a genius.  _ Kakarot wouldn’t - he and Kakarot looked, sometimes, even danced around the subject (this last week especially, since flirting was  _ fun  _ and his Majin self couldn’t be assed to stop), but they didn’t talk about that to  _ each other,  _ let alone - 

_ Ask me why I flirt when you’re back to normal,  _ Kakarot had said. 

Still. It was a far cry between flirting and  _ love.  _

Vegeta swallowed, forced his throat back into action. “Kakarot told you that and you let him go?” he asked. 

Bulma reached up and stroked his cheek with her thumb. “I told him to talk to you,” she said. “Of course, now I see he did a little more than talk.” 

Vegeta stared at her dumbly. 

“Just read the books,” Bulma said, and left him there to flounder. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have rewritten this chapter 12 times. Still not sure about it. ahhhhh too late here it is


	8. Chapter 8

The fairy-tale books were idiotic, with huge cartoon pictures and few words on any page. He flipped through them quickly, but each one was less helpful than the last. 

_ Princess. Prince. Curse. Dragon. True Love’s Kiss. The end.  _

_ Prince. Enchantress. Curse. Maiden. True Love’s Kiss. The end.  _

_ Pauper. Sorcerer. Curse. Princess. True Love’s Kiss. The end.  _

_ Princess. Prince. Witch. Curse. True Love’s Kiss. The end.  _

“The fuck I am supposed to do with this,” he growled to himself, throwing the books haphazardly back into the box. Of course, yes, the concept existed, seemingly fairly ubiquitous among all these earth stories - didn’t tell him  _ jack shit  _ as to what a True Love’s kiss was. 

(Although it did seem fairly obvious. A kiss from someone who truly loved you-)

Vegeta abandoned Bulla’s collection of children’s books and stomped his way over to the library. He’d spent a lot of time here when he first came to live at Capsule Corp - not as much time as he spent in the gravity room, of course, but it was usually empty and offered him the opportunity to research this new planet without anyone monitoring him. The library was dominated by engineering and technology research, many authored by Bulma or her father, but there was a fiction section near the side, and it was there Vegeta found a large, bound anthology of fairy tales. 

He sat down in a corner and read what were clearly curations of the older, more violent fairy tales Bulma had referenced earlier; children who were eaten, people who sold their souls when their desired mate didn’t love them back, couples who tried to bargain with gods and forfeited their partner in the process. Lots of terrible endings. A lot of chasing true love. A rare few happy endings when the protagonist had their love returned. 

“Ridiculous,” Vegeta muttered, putting the book back carefully so no one would be able to tell which particular volume had been disturbed. Kakarot - Kakarot couldn’t  _ love  _ him. Kakarot was too innocent and pure and all that crap for loving anyone besides his wife. 

Sure, Kakarot might be  _ attracted  _ to him. He was only saiyan, after all. And as loathe as Vegeta was to admit it, they were something like close friends at this point. 

But Kakarot could befriend a house plant. It didn’t  _ mean  _ anything-

_ Kakarot, blush flaring across his face as he held Vegeta’s jaw in one hand-  _

_ Kakarot, determinedly declaring he wasn’t leaving, no matter what-  _

_ Kakarot, smiling at Vegeta watching his children, smiling even wider when Vegeta glared at him for looking-  _

_ Kakarot, taking a precious second in the middle of a fight to look at Vegeta, loosening just a little when he saw him waiting impatiently on the sidelines-  _

Fuck. 

Vegeta ground the heel of his palms against his eyes and mentally cursed Bulma for putting the idea into his head. He could have gone forever thinking the kiss was a magic technique Kakarot had pulled out just to save him, because that’s what Kakarot did when things got tough. He could have avoided Kakarot for a while, and then they’d gradually start training together again without ever having to bring it up. 

Instead, Kakarot loved him?  _ Him?  _ And Vegeta was just supposed to live with that knowledge?

_ If you really want to know, you can ask me again when you’re normal. I’ll answer then. _ _ I promise.  _

“Screw you,” Vegeta muttered to the ghost of Kakarot in his head. The other saiyan wasn’t that patient. He’d come crawling back for a spar, and Vegeta could figure out how to bring it up then. Kakarot was good at keeping secrets, but not  _ that  _ good. 

* * *

Vegeta fell back into his usual routine at Capsule Corp. He waited days, weeks, for that annoying popping noise that accompanied an instant transmission. After a while, he started meditating on his ki sense daily, just to check that the fool was still on the planet. 

Kakarot did not come crawling back. 

* * *

Why hadn’t Kakarot come back to ask for a spar yet? He was always itching for a fight. 

* * *

Maybe Kakarot had found someone better, stronger to spar with. Vegeta hadn’t sensed any unusual battle powers, but he could have found someone. 

Or have settled for someone. Someone who hadn’t told him to forget their one kiss ever happened- 

* * *

Here’s the thing, though. Majin Vegeta had given Kakarot  _ months  _ worth of ammunition. Crawling all over Kakarot like he was a damn teddy bear. Making light of the sexual tension like it wasn’t driving the both of them crazy. How could Kakarot not know that he- 

Vegeta’s throat closed up, automatically appalled at the words that had just popped into his stream of thought -  _ loved him too.  _ He had just thought it, so easily, like it was nothing. Nothing. How could he just think that-

Actually?

Fuck it. He did love Kakarot. He was a stupid Earth Saiyan now who did stupid things like love people, had a stupidly huge group of family and friends, and he had the power to protect them all from virtually anything. He didn’t need to freak out over stupid shit like that anymore. He had bigger things to worry about. 

Kakarot  _ should  _ know. But he was a bit of an idiot, and no stranger to keeping secrets. Who knew what that buffoon was planning?

Maybe he should take a page out of his Majin self’s book. Majin Vegeta had actually gotten somewhere. 

* * *

Vegeta landed hard in the fields beyond Kakarot’s house, creating a deep set of footprints and a small explosion of dirt around him. 

Kakarot jumped into a fighting stance, relaxing when he noticed who it was. “Oh, Vegeta! I wasn’t expecting you here.” 

He tried and failed not to glare in response. 

Kakarot ignored it, as Kakarot always ignored his mean looks. “You’re lucky I just harvested all this,” he said blithely, gesturing to the field around him. “Otherwise you really might have disturbed the crops-”

“You’ve got some nerve, Kakarot,” Vegeta interrupted. “You avoid me for months, and now you want to talk about some stupid plants?”

Kakarot’s brow furrowed. “Well, what else would we talk about?” he asked. 

_ “You know what!”  _ Vegeta shouted. 

Kakarot pursed his lips, like he was deep in thought. “Do you want to spar?” he asked. 

Vegeta’s jaw dropped. This was proof, wasn’t it? Proof that Kakarot had no intentions of ever acting on any feelings. Proof that Kakarot kissed him only to cure him, and that any feelings were just a lucky coincidence. Proof that Kakarot had tricked him into chasing Kakarot’s shadow.  _ Again.  _ That Kakarot was an ethereal goal that he would never catch, not in his entire life-

_ “Yes,”  _ Vegeta hissed through gritted teeth. “Yes, I wanted to  _ spar,  _ Kakarot. What else could I possibly be here for?” 

Kakarot stared at him. His face gave away nothing but frustration. “Okay then,” he said. “Let me go get changed into something better, and I can meet you out by...what do you say, Bulma’s island? That should be empty, right?” 

Bulma had purchased an island several hundred miles south of West City - in the middle of nowhere, basically - for that exact purpose. “Fine,” Vegeta growled. “But don’t keep me waiting.” He couldn’t wait to bash in that excuse for a head. 

“You got it,” Kakarot said. Vegeta simply scoffed and took off again without another word. 

* * *

He reached the island first - Kakarot was probably waiting for his ki to settle in one location, too lazy to fly himself. Vegeta concentrated until he heard instant transmission’s signature  _ pop,  _ and then immediately swung his fist into Kakarot’s face. 

Kakarot dodged and jumped backwards, falling into a defensive stance. “Whoa! Getting right into it, huh?” 

Vegeta hated Kakarot’s cheerful dumbass routine with a  _ passion  _ right now. He grunted and charged again. 

Kakarot hadn’t been slacking in their time apart - not that Kakarot ever slacked off, when it came to battle. Vegeta’s punches were deflected off forearms, his kicks meeting nothing but empty air. Kakarot quickly matched his ferocity with reciprocal viciousness, taking opportunities to attack at the slightest opening - not that any of his attacks landed, either. 

Vegeta pushed himself harder, as hard as he could without transforming. Once. Just  _ once,  _ he needed to beat Kakarot. His pride demanded it. If he could not catch the ghost of Kakarot’s affections, he could at least overtake Kakarot’s power. 

What was Kakarot even fighting for?

His breath rushed out of him as Kakarot landed a powerful kick on Vegeta’s diaphragm, followed with a quick throw to slam Vegeta down headfirst into the ocean below. Luckily, his high-speed entry created a little pocket of air, enough for him to gasp in a new breath as he charged up an energy blast. He fired quickly, and then several more shots in quick succession when he realized Kakarot was having a difficult time tracking them all through the water. Two of them hit before Kakarot dove down to join him in the water, aiming a close-ranged punch. 

They exchanged blows until Vegeta was forced to retreat back to the surface for air. Kakarot followed relentlessly, tackling Vegeta onto the island’s beach before he could make it too far into the sky. They rolled gracelessly along the sand, each grappling for a hold. Gritty particles dug into the side of Vegeta’s face as Kakarot ground his head into the ground, but Vegeta had a hand around Kakarot’s wrist and the space to wrap his legs around Kakarot’s body and grab Kakarot’s collar with his free hand, effectively trapping his movement. 

Kakarot didn’t have the leverage to do much more than continue pushing Vegeta’s face into the sand, and not even at a hard enough angle to do anything. He probably could have escaped easily, if he was willing to rip off half his gi in the process. “Yield,” Vegeta ordered, his jaw movement slightly arrested by Kakarot’s grip. 

“You yield,” Kakarot retorted. So he was feeling vindictive, today.

Kakarot was usually the first to let go when they got into these little deadlocks, although Vegeta rarely protested - their spars were nothing like real fights, these days. Options in a real fight were endless if you didn’t care about collateral damage. 

Collateral damage. Ha. Vegeta could still win this. “Why  _ are  _ you always flirting with me, Kakarot?” 

Kakarot dropped his grip on Vegeta’s jaw like he’d been burned. Vegeta loosened his legs’ grip on Kakarot to allow him to throw himself off the other man.  _ “What?!”  _ Kakarot shouted into the sky. 

Vegeta pushed himself up into a sitting position, flaring his ki to knock all the residual sand off his purpose. “Ha,” Vegeta said, watching his gloves carefully as he straightened them. “I win.” 

Kakarot made a noise that was somewhere between a choke and a growl. Vegeta looked up to see a maelstrom of little facial gestures - a mouth hung open, brows together, lips settling into something like a snarl, eyes wide - “No,” Kakarot said. 

“Yes, I do, Kakarot,” Vegeta said. “You yielded.” 

“You’re not allowed to do that,” Kakarot said. “You said you didn’t want to talk about it. You can’t do that, and then - then - it’s against the rules!“ 

Vegeta’s stomach dropped, but he’d rather die than admit why. “What rules, Kakarot?” 

“You can’t keep asking me that if you don’t want to hear the answer, Vegeta!” he said. “You’re being mean! I know Bulma probably told you-”

“If there’s something I should know, I need to hear it from you,” he interrupted. “ _ That’s _ the rule.”

“Oh, that’s rich,” Kakarot said. “You’re the one who ran away and told me not to talk about it, and now you’re mad-”

“You’re the one who kissed me and then immediately pretended nothing happened!” Vegeta shouted. The words, now that they were out in the open, seemed to echo in the air.  _ You kissed me.  _

Kakarot stilled. “I asked you what you wanted.” 

“I wanted not to be just another burden you worry about having to save,” Vegeta said. Kakarot’s eyes widened, and he looked back down to the ground, flushing. “Your turn, clown.” 

Kakarot’s fingers dug into the sand below him. “I wanted to kiss you again,” he said to the ground. Still not looking up, he continued, “I’m sort of in love with you. That’s why the kiss worked as a cure, but I didn’t want to keep chasing you around if it wasn’t what the Real You wanted.”

Vegeta frowned. “You think  _ you’ve  _ been chasing  _ me?”  _

“Obviously,” Goku said. “Look, I’m sorry if you don’t-”

Vegeta tackled him back down onto the ground, landing on top of Kakarot hard. “I do too,” he declared, loudly, like a challenge, and then kissed the surprise off of Kakarot’s lips. 

Kakarot kissed back sloppily, like he was trying to devour his mouth, like he wouldn’t get a second chance. His hands settled around Vegeta’s waist in a tight grip. Vegeta slid his hands up into Kakarot’s hair and marveled at its texture. 

They only pulled apart when they were dying for breath. Kakarot’s lips, pink and swollen from kissing, slowly tipped up into another smile. “You mean you love me, right?” he asked. “I never asked you why you were always flirting with me.” 

“You had your chance to ask,” Vegeta said, smirking. 

Kakarot’s jaw dropped in fake outrage. “Aw, Vegeta, come on! Majin you doesn’t count.” 

“Absolutely counts,” Vegeta said. “I can’t believe you had  _ any  _ doubts-”

“It wasn’t the real you,” Kakarot interrupted. “I’d rather have the real you, even with all the dumb rules and your mixed signals-”

“Again with the flirting,” Vegeta drawled sarcastically, and Kakarot smiled wider as he leaned up to kiss him again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> some of you guess that there would be more coming since I had a POV switch. there's actually just a little epilogue next! the POV switch was because it was fun, haha. thank you all for everything <3


	9. Epiloge

“Pay up, folks,” Chi-Chi said, wagging her finger at each of the other players. 

“I still don’t think this is fair,” Krillin said, forking over his and 18’s share of the betting pool. “You had inside information.” 

“There was definitely collusion,” 18 agreed. 

“I still feel weird betting over a game of bingo,” Gohan said. “Did I turn 80 and just not notice it?” 

“I feel weird betting over your dad’s sex life,” Videl said. “Seriously. I know they said they were skipping over all the sex-based spells, but there were a  _ lot  _ in that book.”

“Vi _ del,”  _ Gohan whined. “Ew!” 

“I was very happy to compete in this human ritual,” Dende chimed in, handing over something that didn’t look  _ quite  _ like zeni, but he was obviously trying. “I feel like I understand you earthlings better.” 

“It was a pleasure to play with you, Dende,” Chi-Chi said, happily taking all of the bills and counting them quickly. Eh, it was close enough to the agreed amount. 

“I’ve also been doing some more research into Nemekian magic,” Dende said. “Videl is right. Earth magic  _ does  _ have much more intercourse-based rituals. I thought that for sure-”

_ “Dende,”  _ Gohan interrupted. “Seriously. Ew.” 

“I’m with Gohan,” Krillin said. “We don’t need to hear about that, even if they did try a few-”

_ “Krillin!”  _

Chi-Chi smirked to herself. “Alright, alright,” she said, before Gohan’s face got any redder than it already was. “We’re still clear on rule 1, right? No one breathes a word to Vegeta?” 

She received a round of affirmations, and a shrewd look from 18. “Or Goku,” 18 said. “We all know he can’t keep a secret, right Chi-Chi?” 

Whelp. “I promise I won’t tell Goku anything more than he already knows,” she promised. 

Krillin paled. “Oh, we’re dead.” 

“Mom!” Gohan shouted. 

“I should be going back to the lookout,” Dende said, staring up at the sky. “Maybe Vegeta will forget I’m up there.” 

“Dibs using Pan as a shield,” Videl said. 

18 just kept staring at her, but Chi-Chi couldn’t find it in herself to feel guilty. “It’ll be fine,” she reassured everyone. “Goku hasn’t said a peep all game. Even if he does let something slip, I’m sure Goku he’ll be able to keep Vegeta occupied enough for us to run.” 

“So there was collusion!” 18 said.

  
_ The End _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's all, folks! Thanks for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone, thank you for reading! this is my first foray into the DB fandom, so please let me know what you think!


End file.
